Many people complain about pain in the hip joint when walking. It occurs abruptly and over time repeats more and more often, it worries not only when moving, but also at rest. For every pain in the human body there is a reason. Why does it arise? How dangerous is it and what threatens? Let's try to figure it out.
Anatomical structure
Before talking about why the hip joint hurts when walking, let's tell you what it consists of anatomically. In general, the pelvic bone is an articulation of three elements dependent on each other: the pubic symphysis, the sacro-air joints and the hip joints.
The latter are long bones with two rounded heads, which allows you to move your legs in different directions. The amplitude of movements can be different: forward, backward, to the side. Hip jointsprovide stability, verticalization of the body, actively participate in movement, carry weights, bear the main load of the body.
If the sacro-air joints and the symphysis are practically motionless, then the heads of the hip joints are, as it were, in cups - in the acetabulum that surrounds the acetabular lips. The main function of the lips is to lubricate the cartilage of the joints with the so-called synovial fluid. Due to it, a certain suction effect is created, which does not allow the joints to move freely inside the cavities.
The aforementioned heads of the hip bone are connected to the bone itself by the neck, behind them are small and large skewers, to which the thigh muscles are securely attached. The joints themselves are surrounded by joint capsules with ligaments, thanks to which the bones are attached to the pelvis. For strength, the hip joints are additionally attached to the bottom of the acetabulum with round ligaments. In the femur, the head is covered with articular cartilage, it is very smooth and elastic, which reduces friction between the joints.
The blood supply to the hip bone is vital and provided:
- blood vessels through the capsule to the joint;
- bone vessels;
- vessels inside the ligament of the head of the joint.
The blood supply and lubrication keep the hip joints mobile.
Occurrence and causes of pain
It is often difficult for specialists to diagnose and find out why there is pain in the hip joint when walking. The reasons for its occurrence may be blurred. It can be radiating pain fromlumbar spine, arthritis and arthrosis, injuries and sprains of muscles and ligaments.
Pain in the hip joint when walking can occur suddenly, with careless movement, at the beginning or in the middle of walking, when bending over or squatting. Many patients who have pain in the hip joints complain of pain in the knee, in the groin. How to treat the disease? First you need to decide what causes pain.
Four groups of pain sensations
Pain in the hip area can be caused by the following reasons:
1. Consequences of injury:
- contusions of the pelvis and hip joint, the femur itself, as well as myositis (muscle inflammation);
- tears and sprains of muscles, fractures, cracks;
- fractures of stress groups due to "fatigue" of the joint, articular bag, femoral neck;
- traumatic ruptures and tears of ligaments, joint capsules;
- pelvic fractures;
- subluxations and dislocations, including congenital ones.
2. Features of the structure of the joint, ligaments and muscles, concomitant diseases:
- snapping hip syndrome, chondromatosis, impingement;
- coxarthrosis, osteoarthrosis, arthritis, bursitis, tendinitis;
- aspetic and avascular necrosis;
- phenomena of osteoporosis due to disruption of the endocrine system.
3. Radiating pain:
- dysplasia and coxarthrosis;
- osteochondrosis and osteopathy of the vertebral joints;
- muscle dysplasia;
- myopathy, neuralgia, neuropathy in diabetes mellitus;
- groin hernia;
- dysplastic syndrome with coxarthrosis.
4. Groups of systemic diseases:
- types of arthritis in gout, rheumatism, lupus;
- spondyloarthritis and Bechterew's disease;
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- arthritis in psoriasis;
- infectious diseases, including bone tuberculosis, Lyme disease;
- myalgia of fibrous tissue;
- oncological diseases.
Features of manifestation
Pain in the hip joint when walking can be different. There are the following types of pain:
- due to mechanical impact during exercise, the intensity of pain appears more in the evening and disappears in the morning;
- with synovitis, pain occurs at the beginning of movement and decreases with increasing activity, and sometimes disappears altogether;
- tendinitis is characterized by the fact that pain occurs in muscle tissue and tendons only when moving;
- spasms of the periaticular muscles;
- due to hypertension inside the bones, aching pain in the hip joint may occur;
- stretching of the joint capsule in case of injury or inflammatory processes;
- mechanical damage by osteophytes on the head of the bone.
Now you know why there is pain in the hip joint when walking. The reasons, as you can see, may be different.
Clinical symptoms
In the beginningpain sensations are inconsistent and unexpressed, associated only with movement. As the disease progresses, they increase. Pain in the hip joint when walking predetermines further stiffness, contracture does not allow the joint to be moved to the side, which causes unbearable suffering for the patient.
Due to the fact that the patient reflexively protects the joint from unnecessary movements, lameness, muscle weakness, innervation occur, the leg may decrease in volume and shorten, the head of the joint itself is deformed. The doctor must be told about exactly how the hip joint hurts when walking.
Methods of treatment for arthrosis
For any, even minor pain, you should seek medical help. Many patients who have pain in the hip joint have no idea what to do and think that everything will go away on its own. But only a doctor will be able to diagnose the cause, identify the features of the destructive process and prescribe adequate treatment.
If a patient is diagnosed with "arthrosis of the hip joint", then the first actions are the selection of drugs aimed at treating the processes of destruction of cartilage and ligaments. If the patient has severe pain in the hip joint, then anti-inflammatory drugs, auxiliary drugs, including vitamin supplements, methods and methods of physiotherapy, fixing the joints with splints and plaster (especially at the stage of exacerbation), therapeutic exercises are usually used.
In the event that there is a constantpain in the hip joint when walking, treatment is often only surgical. Today, methods are used to replace the head of the joint with an artificial titanium implant. This allows not only to stop the process of destruction, but also to return the patient to a full, active life. This process takes less than 6 months, including the rehabilitation complex.
It must be remembered that treatment should be comprehensive, using all possible methods and means to combat a destructive disease.
Dietary supplements
At the onset of the disease, the cartilage has not yet been destroyed, pain symptoms are not clearly expressed. At this stage, you can start taking dietary supplements. So, preparations containing collagen hydrolyzate, which is part of the cartilage tissue, will be useful. The components of the substance prevent the process of destruction, contribute to the restoration of the cellular structure and the ligamentous preparation. Warming ointments, gels, compresses are useful if the hip joint hurts. What to do to alleviate suffering, traditional medicine will tell. It is recommended to use cabbage leaves and burdock as a warming and anti-inflammatory agent. It is useful to wrap a warm downy scarf around the joint at night, which will create a warm effect and increase blood flow.
Medicines
If the hip joints hurt, what else to treat? Folk remedies and dietary supplements are, of course, good. but only at the earliest stages of the pathological process. You need to consult an orthopedic or rheumatologist,who will prescribe medications to relieve pain.
Chondroprotectors must be prescribed, for example, the drug "Chondroitin", which not only restores the structure of cartilage tissue, but also contains components that affect the mobility of the ligamentous apparatus. Since pain is a sign of inflammation, a group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is prescribed, such as Ibuprofen, Ketorol, Nimesulide, Nise. They will stop inflammation and relieve pain.
Muscle relaxants are drugs that relieve painful muscle spasms. They are useful in that, when taken at night, they make it possible to relax the muscles of the legs, to avoid pain. Milgamma and Sirdalud stand out among such medicines.
Drugs that improve blood microcirculation in bone tissue will help the process of blood supply, increase blood flow. This, for example, means "Trental", injections of nicotinic acid.
In special cases, when the pain becomes unbearable, hormonal agents are prescribed, for example, the drug "Prednisolone" (in small doses), which, in addition to increasing blood flow, provides for the removal of the inflammation process.
Physiotherapy
To relieve pain, but outside the stage of exacerbation, the patient is prescribed physiotherapy. It can be massage, laser, electromyostimulation. Also useful are water procedures, baths with resin, with hydrogen sulfide. For increaserange of motion designate swimming in the pool.
Features of hip traction
Traction is a method that reduces the load on the cartilage of the joint by stretching. On the one hand, this is a useful procedure in which the joint is gradually stretched, the correct distribution of the load is carried out. On the other hand, this method can only be performed by an experienced chiropractor. Recently, a trunk apparatus has also been used - a device for stretching bones, increasing the distance between them.
Prevention
In order to avoid pain in the hip joint when walking, in order to prevent arthrosis and other inflammatory processes, simple rules should be followed:
- Get rid of excess weight. The higher the weight, the greater the load on the joints, which entails destructive processes.
- Try to move as much as possible. Activity is a guarantee that there will be no congestion in the joints.
- Follow the daily routine and the rules of he althy nutrition, take vitamins regularly, provide food with enough trace elements.
- Practice exercise and sports.
Following these recommendations, you can protect the joints from destructive processes that can lead to pain, destruction and disability.
