The bones of the pelvic girdle form a kind of bowl that protects and supports the organs of the lower abdomen. The skeleton of the pelvic girdle is much larger, more massive and stronger than the shoulder girdle, as it has to withstand a greater load.
Hip joints experience enormous stress, especially if a person is overweight. That's why it's so important to know how to provide maximum protection for the hip joint and keep it mobile for years to come.
How do hip joints work?
With the help of the pelvis, the legs of a person are connected to the body. The hip joints are paired. Each of them connects two movable bones - the femur and pelvic. The pelvic bone, the anatomy of which is formed by fused flat bones, serves as a support for the spine and internal organs. The hip joint is of a ball-and-socket type, thus allowing the leg to move in any direction, as well as to flex and extend it.
Detailed anatomy of the pelvis
The strongest and longest bone in the human body is the femur. At the top end, it bends inward,forming a narrow neck bearing a spherical head. The head itself is covered with articular cartilage and is placed in a cup-shaped acetabulum on the lateral surface of the pelvic bone. The cavity increases due to the cartilaginous ring along its edge - the acetabular lip, which covers the femoral head.
Outside, the joint is surrounded by a capsule of fibrous connective tissue, lined from the inside with a synovial membrane. This thin mucous membrane provides nourishment and lubrication to the cartilage by secreting synovial fluid. The capsule itself is reinforced with ligaments between the femur and pelvic bones. Together they firmly hold the femoral head in the acetabulum.
The femoral head is the spherical end of the femur, located in the deep glenoid cavity of the pelvis. Dislocation in this place is extremely rare, but the problem is in the thin neck of the femur, which often breaks with injuries or with thinning and fragility of the bone tissue. This often happens in old age.
Pelvic bones
The base of the pelvis is the sacrum, coccyx and pelvic bones. Together with the joints of the lower extremities, they form a bone ring. Inside its cavity are the internal organs. The pelvic bone, the anatomy of which includes three more bones (ischium, pubic and ilium), has a cartilaginous connection until the age of 18. Later, ossification occurs and the three bones above fuse.
The lower part of the pelvis is formed by the ischium and the pubic pelvic bone. Anatomy shows their connection in the form of a loop.
Ilium –broad and pterygoid, makes up the upper part of the hip joint and is easily palpable just below the human waist. At the junction of all three bones is the acetabulum. This is what the normal anatomy of the pelvic bone looks like.
Pelvic loading
It has been known since antiquity that the greatest loads fall on the pelvic bones. Detailed anatomy of the pelvis confirms this by the rapid "wear and tear" of the hip joints. The pressure on them often exceeds the weight of the human body itself. And this happens every day: when walking, running, and even while simply standing on your feet. This is the natural human anatomy.
The pelvic bone, depending on the position of the body, may experience different weight loads. For example, when walking at a speed of 1 km / h, the load on each hip joint is approximately 280% of body weight, at a speed of 4 km / h, the load increases to 480%, and when jogging it is 550%. When a person stumbles, the load on the joint increases to 870% of body weight.
Women have a wider pelvic bone. The anatomy is slightly different from the male. Therefore, the range of oscillations when walking is stronger, hence the wagging of the hips is more noticeable. The female pelvis is on average wider, but lower than the male. It has a much larger lower part, as provided by nature, because the baby moves through it during childbirth.
During normal walking, each hip joint is subjected to a load exceeding 2-3 times the body weight. When climbing stairs, it exceeds body weight by 4-6 times.
Keeping hip bones he althy
One of the main conditions for the he alth of the pelvic bones is to maintain normal body weight. With each extra kilogram of body weight, the load on both hip joints increases by 2 kg when walking, by 5 kg when lifting, and by 10 kg when running and jumping. And the extra load is the daily wear of the articular cartilage and the risk of osteoarthritis. Having lost weight, a person protects the joint from premature wear.
In diseases of the hip joint, regular light exercise in the form of walking or an exercise bike is useful, as they help maintain mobility. If walking is too painful, swimming will provide a good workout. In this case, the weight of the body does not put pressure on the diseased joint. After a fracture, as soon as the doctor allows, it is also necessary to give a gradual load to the pelvic bones to restore strength and flexibility.
Bone strength, including the pelvic bone, is known to decline with age, especially in menopausal women. The main preventive measure is to maintain bone strength by eating calcium-rich foods. Most calcium is found in full-fat dairy products, pulses, fish, green vegetables, nuts and fruits.
