Painful hip joints

A Real Pain in the Hip

This type of pain is one of those that are considered to be fairly frequent, but also difficult to pinpoint exactly because of their nature, i.e., because it can be caused by a great variety of underlying conditions. Therefore, a person suffering from this kind of pain should visit a doctor as soon as possible, so the precise diagnosis and treatment could be determined.

Common Causes

Among the most common is an entire bundle of the following:

Arthritis is considered to be one of the most, if not the most frequent culprits for the occurrence and initiation of hip pain. Fortunately, when it comes to arthritis, there already exist a lot of treatment options, which have proven to be extremely effective. In case all the conventional treatments fail you, then the best possible option is a hip replacement surgery. Trochanteric Bursitis refers to a rather often occurring problem, which is responsible for the initiation of inflammation in the bursa (i.e. a “pouch” containing fluid and situated between a tendon and a bone), especially on the outer side of the hip. Tendonitis is a condition that may appear and influence just about any tendon (i.e. a fibrous tissue that connects a muscle to a bone) that is situated around the joint of the hip. When it comes to this condition, the one considered to occur most often is “iliotibial tendonitis” or for short IT band. Osteonecrosis refers to a condition that is initiated once the blood flow to the bone becomes obstructed for one reason or another. In case a amount of blood smaller than needed gets to the bone, due to lack of it, cells die out, and as a direct consequence of that there is a chance that the bone in question may suddenly collapse. Snapping Hip Syndrome is a term that actually refers to the set of three specific hip issues. Namely, one occurs when the IT band “breaks” in the outer part of the thigh, while the second condition occurs once the hip flexor (deep one) also breaks over the front part of the joint of the hip in question. The third condition refers to the cartilage tear (med. labrum), in the area surrounding the socket of the hip.

Other extremely frequent causes are various muscle strains, fractures of the hip, stress fractures, and such conditions as legg-calve-perthes disease, developmental dysplasia and alike.

Treatment

Just as the hip pain in most cases is influenced by the underlying condition present, so is the treatment, which is why it is vital for a person to get to know his/her particular condition as best as possible, together with all the accompanying symptoms, prior to embracing treatment. Among most effective and beneficial treatment techniques are getting plenty of rest, applying cold packs and hot pads for relief, physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medications.