The appearance of pain in the hip is a reason for an early visit to the doctor. The sooner the cause of the discomfort is established and the treatment prescribed, the more likely it is that he will completely get rid of the pain.
The largest joint in the body is the hip. It represents the largest and longest daily load. Its main function is to allow a person to move and maintain balance. Pain in the hip joint complicates life, brings a lot of discomfort and trouble.
It is necessary to urgently consult a doctor for help if unpleasant symptoms appear. They can be caused by various diseases. In the first position among the provocateurs of pain are injuries to the limbs.
Less obvious factors that cause pain in the hip joint include the development of pathological processes. The main pathological causes of pain are the presence of:
- arthritis;
- osteoarthritis;
- infectious arthritis;
- inflammatory processes in the tendons;
- coxarthrosis and others.
If treatment is not started in a timely manner, all these diseases lead to complications, degenerative processes in the joint. These changes mainly concern:
- damage to the surface of the cartilage;
- damage to structures located near the joint;
- decrease in the amount of fluid in the joint.
Often there are no obvious causes for pain in the hip joint, and the pain does not go away and increases with each passing day. These are signs that an already developed disease is present. To find out what disease has developed, you need to consult a doctor, but if this is not possible, you can first determine the symptoms and, accordingly, the pathology itself and the methods of getting rid of it.
Joint injury
The most obvious causes of pain in the hip joints are injuries. The most common fracture is that of the femoral neck. It is the most common because the neck is the thinnest area of the thigh. If the pain is caused by a fracture, you need to be very careful, because this condition is very dangerous. Older people are more likely to suffer this injury.
Hip pain caused by a fracture should only be treated under medical supervision. In advanced cases, resort to prosthetic or stent methods.
Arthritis
This disease mainly affects the elderly. With age, the development of degenerative, dystrophic and inflammatory processes in the joints is often observed. This disease will cause pain in the hip and groin area, pain on the side of the thigh, up to the knee, may appear at night. Leaning on a leg with a painful joint, the patient feels an increase in pain, and when rising from a sitting position, the leg seems to cross.
The pathology is common in the elderly. During this period of life, many people can experience all the degenerative, dystrophic and inflammatory processes in the joints. The hip joint is one of the first to undergo changes.
The main symptoms of arthritis are:
- limb pain;
- pain in the inguinal region, radiating to the leg, reaching the knee region;
- increase in symptoms when walking;
- shoot when rising from a seated position.
What if the first signs of arthritis appear? In case of severe pain, high temperature, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be taken. With their help, you can suppress or eliminate the symptoms of the inflammatory process. Children are prescribed forms of children's medication.
It is also necessary to give a painful leg rest by placing it comfortably. It is strictly forbidden to do development exercises. Treatment at the beginning of the development of the disease is conservative. The operation of prostheses or stents is performed in advanced cases.
Coxarthrosis
Hip osteoarthritis (deforming osteoarthritis) is a frequent pathology. The disease occurs mainly in people over 40 years old. With coxarthrosis, the first symptoms can be observed at the very beginning of its development. Pain sensations appear in both one and both joints, gradually developing. Coxarthrosis is divided into primary (disease of unknown origin) and secondary, the causes of which are the consequences:
- congenital hip dislocations;
- necrosis and destruction of tissues of the femoral head;
- malformed hip joint;
- Perthes disease;
- wound;
- inflammation.
In primary hip osteoarthritis, the spine and knee joint may also be affected. Changes in the fluid that should lubricate the joint lead to the development of this disease. This causes the surface of the cartilage to dry out, resulting in roughness and cracking. There is a thinning of the cartilage when rubbing, the bones experience strong pressure, which causes their deformation in coxarthrosis.
The joint begins to hurt slightly, but with the development of pathology, the discomfort begins to manifest itself with increasing intensity. At the second stage of the development of the disease, severe pain appears with:
- every time you get up from a sitting position;
- upper body movements;
- the beginning of the walk;
- walking himself.
The pain radiates to the groin and the knee. There is constant muscle tone in the affected area. This explains the appearance of pain at night.
Over time, blood circulation is disturbed, which causes the metabolism to slow down. This leads to progressive muscle atrophy. Symptoms of hip osteoarthritis in stages 2 and 3:
- pain in the hip joint, groin, knee;
- constrained movements;
- the appearance of lameness;
- the length of the leg with the affected joint decreases;
- atrophy of the thigh muscles.
With coxarthrosis, pain can appear even at night. Treatment should be prescribed by a doctor after a comprehensive examination. The sooner the patient asks for help, the better and faster the results will be. They also use prosthetic and stent methods.
When pain occurs when walking, caused by arthrosis, drug treatment is possible only at stages 1 and 2 of development. Stage 3 requires surgery. You should not wait for a complete cure (with the exception of an arthroplasty). But it is possible to relieve discomfort and pain and stop the development of arthrosis. Medical treatment is carried out:
- painkillers;
- anti-inflammatory;
- compress using dimexide;
- physiotherapy.
But this treatment is not enough, complex therapy is needed. So, the doctor can prescribe massage, diet, gymnastics, taking chondroprotectors.
Tendinitis and bursitis of the trochanteric bursa
The trochanteric bursa is located above the prominence of the femur. Inflammation of this part of the musculoskeletal system causes pain in the hip joint and buttocks. If you lie on the side with which the fluid bag is affected, the pain will intensify. The inflammatory process can also develop in the iliac comb or the ischial sacs, but this occurs much less frequently. The development of the disease can begin after prostheses and arthroplasty of the joint.
Tendonitis is an inflammatory process of the tendons. The risk of this pathology is in people who experience regular stress. Basically, this pathology appears in athletes.
Inflammation of the tendons causes joint pain during active movement or walking. In a calm state and light loads, there may be no discomfort.
What to do when pain when walking is caused by bursitis or tendonitis should be determined by an orthopedist or traumatologist. To save the patient from these pathologies, the specialist prescribes therapy aimed at relieving inflammation. The affected limb must be given complete rest. To eliminate pain, punctures are prescribed. During the procedure, fluid is pumped out of the bag and antibiotics are injected into it.
In advanced situations, surgery is required.
To relieve pain, if chronic pelvic pain syndrome or mild forms of the disease are observed, treatment with alternative methods will help. Store a few leaves of Kalanchoe in the refrigerator for a day, then squeeze the juice out of them. Make a compress out of it, which must be changed 6 times in the first days, then you can apply it only at night.
The chronic pelvic pain syndrome of bursitis is relieved by compresses made from fresh cabbage leaves or burdock. These sheets should be applied with the inside to a place previously lubricated with oil or cream. Then it is necessary to wrap the compress with polyethylene, wrap it with a cloth. If such treatment is carried out daily, the inflammation will disappear after 1-2 months.
infections
The causes of infectious arthritis are influenza viruses, streptococci, staphylococci and other pathogens. If the pain is caused by an infectious disease, the development of other symptoms will not take long. Pain and swelling in the area of the diseased joint will not be enough. A fever may develop, and pain will torment not only when walking, but also with the slightest movement. Even light touches will bring suffering.
Tuberculous arthritis, which most commonly affects the hip joint, causes slightly different symptoms:
- The pain first appears when walking. It is not strong, extends to the knee region or mid-thigh.
- Afterwards, the movements of the hips are limited.
- There is swelling in the area of the affected bone.
Heredity
Chronic pelvic pain syndrome is hereditary. This is Perthes disease, which is more common in boys, but in girls it is much more serious. The disease affects one side of the hip joint, sometimes pain may appear in the knee.
The cause of the development of the disease is myelodysplasia (underdeveloped lumbar spinal cord). Pathology may not bother you all your life. But serious violations cause various orthopedic pathologies. Perthes disease can cause such causes:
- inflammation of the joint;
- wound;
- increased stress on the joints.
Symptoms of the disease:
- lameness;
- sharp pain for no reason in the knee joint;
- pain in the hip joint;
- change of gait;
- temperature rise;
- blood test shows inflammation.
Treatment should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor and according to his recommendations. Patients with Perthes' disease are prescribed complex long-term therapy.
Tumors
A joint bone tumor causes pain in the hip joint. Their nature depends on the location and quality of education in the tissues.
The causes of pain in the joint, extending to the leg, may lie in the defeat of the joint itself. This includes neoplasms in muscle or bone. The intensity and area of manifestation of pain are different. This is due to the nature of the tumors (benign or malignant) and their location.
When joint pain appears, it is imperative to consult a doctor, regardless of the cause that caused this symptom. After all, any joint disease at the initial stage can be cured conservatively, without resorting to surgery. But home treatment of the tumor process is unacceptable.