Hip is the strongest, joint of the body. It has the capability of enduring a lot of stress that any other bone is unable to do. This synovial ball and socket joint is so tough and robust that it not only carries the entire body weight but also helps in locomotion. Even though it is tough as nails, but still being a body part, it is susceptible to malfunction.
So, what happens to your knee when you enter the retirement age of your life? Why do you feel a stinging pain in your back or knee while getting up? Why do your legs fatigue after strolling for a short period?
All these, queries are responded by a two-word answer, and that is “hip pain.” Hip pain is a broad term, which is usually associated with the ache felt in lower extremities, mainly near the pelvic bone.
The main reason behind this excruciating pain is the loss of lubricating material in the joint. Our hip joint can exhibit its movements of extension and flexion due to the presence of cartilage. As the person matures, the cartilage sheds down hence increasing friction between the bones. It makes the bone vulnerable to injuries which may cause, conditions associated with hip pain.
What Conditions Result In Hip Pain?
Many reasons may lead to hip pain some of them are as follows:
Tendonitis:
Intense physical workouts may make your muscles sore and aching. Tendons which are the connective tissues attaching muscles to the bones get severely affected by working out perpetually, causing tendonitis.
Apart from exercise, ageing and injury are the two most common factors resulting in this condition. Although it is an extremely painful condition affecting your hip joint but it gets cured swiftly.
Arthritis:
Swollen, inflamed bone joints causing difficulty in mobility is called arthritis. It is one of the leading condition that is linked with hip pain. There are many types of arthritis. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are the two kinds that strongly impact the bones cartilage. Hence, making our movement impaired.
Broken Bones:
With the increase in age, the functions of our body become sluggish. Bones, more than any other bodily organ are influenced greatly in the elderliness. As the person grows, the calcium content of the bones starts reducing that is why we are told to consume milk. Hence feeble bones are at higher risk of getting fractured. A broken hip is an emergency that needs to be managed immediately. Many complications are also associated with fractured hips thus leading to hip pain.
Cancer, inflammation of any one component, for instance, sinusitis or osteomyelitis etc. are some other medical conditions resulting in severe hip pain.
What Signs Indicate a Hip Ache?
Every pain in your lower body cannot be referred to as “hip pain.” Well, here are some symptoms that would help in self-diagnosing your condition:
- Lameness
- Immovable hip
- Pain in knees
- Signs of inflammation, (swelling, tenderness, redness)
- Difficulty in sleeping due to excessive pressure building up in the lower extremities.
If such symptoms appear then you can easily self-diagnose but what if the pain is internal? Then in this case you need to see a doctor to know the root cause of the situation.
How to Put an End to This Torturous Situation:
In the case of hip pain, people tend to treat the condition through home remedies unless the pain becomes difficult to bear. Following are some of the most widely used conventional treatment methods:
Take As Much Rest As Possible:
You must have heard people advising the patients of taking prolonged rest and sleep. This mainly occurs due to the cartilage becoming so worn out that it needs time to heal up and repair. It requires you to halt all your physical activities so that minimum pressure is exerted on the affected region.
Use An Ice Pack for Pain Relief:
The pain that we experience is mainly due to the inflammation of bones and cartilage hence hampering our ability to move. So, instead of putting ourselves immediately on medicines, we tend to manage the inflammation through the ice. Rubbing ice over the inflamed region would alleviate the soreness and tenderness of the hip joint.
Stretching Muscles Frequently:
Stretching the hip muscles at regular intervals is effective in reducing the pain. This remedy is workable if the pain is due to the compressed vein in the hip region.
Massage:
Massage therapies are highly beneficial in the treatment of hip pain. Massaging not only improves the blood circulation but also decreases the tenderness of tensed muscles. Also, it stimulates the secretion of “feel-good chemicals” that are the endorphin hormones. These hormones help in mitigating the agonizing hip pain.
You can have these massage therapies any time you want by simply keeping portable massager at your place. A massager is capable of producing a positive outcome similar to the ones you would anticipate from a massage place.
What if the pain becomes intolerable even after using all the above-mentioned remedies? In this case, medical intervention is compulsory. Hence, depending upon the severity of the condition, the following methods of treatment are employed:
Surgical Intervention:
As hip pain may be a side effect of countless problems therefore based on the degree of inflammation, doctors may treat it surgically. Hip pain consequently occurring from pinched nerves and chronic arthritis has to be treated surgically.
Physiotherapy:
Physical therapy works efficiently in alleviating hip pain. As hip pain restricts your body movements thus by having physiotherapy, our sore muscles can regain their potency to contract and relax.
Medications:
Medications are prescribed in case of chronic conditions simply to provide relief and to avoid the occurrence of any adverse effects. Medicines like anti-inflammatory ointments and creams that are indicated for topical use are usually recommended to treat hip pain.
Additional supports like crutches and crane are usually advised by the doctors particularly to surgically operated individuals. It is suggested so that the patients’ movements do not become completely impaired and he/she can try to walk by not putting full pressure on the affected hip.