Why does the hip joint hurt: reasons, what to do, how to treat it

The hip joint is the largest joint. And in the human body, too, he is the heaviest. It is located in the area of the femur as well as the joint of the pelvis. Due to its special structure, the limb moves freely in different directions. This joint provides a straight posture. The pain in the hip joint impairs its functionality, causing severe discomfort to the person while walking and even sitting. In this case, the limb is sometimes even numb.

General classification of causes

Diagnosing hip failure is difficult because anything triggers painful feelings: trauma, skeletal disorders, concomitant pathology of internal organs. In this case, the damaged area hurts, the feelings burn.

This problem is most common among people who have crossed the 50-year limit. However, women are much more prone to problems with this joint or hip than men.

Hip pain is often caused by:

• Traumatic: fracture of the femoral neck, direct injury to the joint area, severe displacement of the right or left hip, ossifying myositis due to traumatic joint injury, fractures of the pelvic bones, epiphysiolysis of the femoral head.
• Lesions of the connective tissue of the hip joint: Reiter's disease, arthritis and rheumatic ankylosing spondylitis only.
• Diseases of the joint, accompanied by degenerative processes in the tissues: coxarthrosis.
• Osteochondropathies: osteochondritis dissecans, Legg-Calve-Perthes pathology.
• Skeletal developmental problems: epiphyseal varus deformity of the foot that develops in adolescents.
• Inflammatory processes in the soft tissues of the joints: bursitis, transient synovitis, articular coxitis provoked by a tuberculosis bacillus.

Radiating pain in the thigh area is caused by such lesions: symphysitis, radicular syndrome, pathological processes within the sacroiliac joint, enthesopathy. Usually, an injured left or right hip joint causes significant discomfort and pain. It should be treated with the slightest symptoms.

Detailed description of traumatic causes

If the hip joint is painful, this condition can be caused by:

1. Congenital displacement of the hip due to unsuccessful childbirth or intrauterine development. The lesion can be quickly diagnosed even in newborns. The child's buttocks are uneven, one leg is shortened. Compressed nerve is also common. For a newborn, this disease is quite complex and dangerous, as the consequences of trauma can persist into life.
2. Traumatic dislocation of the hip. It is characterized by sharp pain, one cannot perform any movement, and there can be no question of sitting or standing. Edema and hematoma appear above the joint. During the displacement of the hip (running, sports training) it only worsens the condition, provokes the progress of changes and pathological processes in the hip joint. This type of injury requires immediate treatment.
3. Fracture of the femoral neck. This diagnosis is often made in women over 60 years of age. The cause of such damage to the hip joint is a banal fall or a targeted blow to the hip joint. At the time of the fracture, you feel very sharp pain, which is aggravated by movement. Unpleasant sensations begin to sell the inner surface of the thigh. Swelling appears at the site of the injury, bruising in the hip area. The injured left or right leg is shortened and the person gets lameness, the joint starts to click. In addition, trauma contributes to nerve stings, causing the thigh to begin to numb.
4. Transstrochanteric fracture of the femur. The pain in this case is moderate or severe. When moving, the symptoms of the hips are worse. Here, a pinched nerve is also entirely possible. In this situation, the pain erupts and the limbs may become numb.
5. Bruising of the hip joint. Here, the pain is moderate in intensity but can become severe during a person’s active movement. At rest, the symptoms disappear. This cause of hip or hip pain is very common, especially in people prone to falls. The patient has lameness that passes quickly.

Traumatic injury to the hip joint is considered to be the main and common cause of unpleasant pain. Severe fracture or dislocation of the femur, pelvis, often requires surgery. If a person has a nerve constriction and the patient begins to numb in the limb, a doctor should be seen immediately.

Systemic diseases as a cause of pain

Hip pain can be caused by systemic changes in the connective tissue while walking or in other situations. Such diseases need to be treated continuously as they are considered virtually incurable. In addition, therapy should be comprehensive and primarily address the cause of the discomfort.

Thus, the following pathologies can cause pain in the left or right hip joint:

• Ankylosing spondylitis. Here the pain is boring. In a sick man or woman, the painful feelings intensify at night. Localization of pain syndrome - sacrum or pelvis. At the same time, it can give to the knees, thighs, groin, shoot. Movement in this case, especially walking, is difficult, the patient feels stiffness. Hip pain can be quite severe. An inflammatory process develops inside the right or left joint.
• Reiter's syndrome. This disease is a change in the joints, urogenital organs, and inflammation of the conjunctiva. The disease results from autoimmune and intestinal infections. Within the joint, the pathological process begins several weeks or months after the onset of the disease. It is characterized by acute pain in the hip or joint, a change in temperature. Severe swelling appears in the pelvic area on the left and right. In most cases, the disease leads to symmetrical changes in the joints.
• Rheumatoid arthritis. This problem is characterized by connective tissue damage. This type of disease is never accompanied by the appearance of pus. This disease is a prerequisite for coxarthrosis of the hip joints. There is gradual progress. Initially, it is characterized by the following symptoms: edema and swelling (left or right). Discomfort is felt when walking, pain shoots. Inside the joint, the temperature rises (local and general) due to the inflammatory process. Further progress contributes to the appearance of rigidity of movement. Lying on his side at night causes pain in the hip joint. In general, the pathology presented occurs to the right and left at the same time. Due to the destruction of the hip joint, the patient's nerves may become constricted, causing the limbs to become numb. Treatment should be immediate.

Systemic pathologies are capable of delivering pain of various natures to humans: sharp, extremely sharp, pulling. Severe discomfort cannot always be dealt with alone, even during rest periods. Therefore, only a doctor can prescribe the correct treatment. This is especially true in situations where a newborn child is ill. Ineffective treatment can ruin your life in the future.

Pain caused by degenerative changes

Sufficiently sharp, burning or pulling joint pain can cause such diseases:

1. Epiphyseal varus deformity, common in adolescents. With it, the feelings are boring, pulling in nature. They are able to give the inside of the knee. Running and other sports workouts cause an increase in the intensity of the pain syndrome. The pain can shoot from time to time and the joint may click.
2. Coxarthrosis. The pathology presented occupies one of the leading positions among all lesions of the hip joint. It is diagnosed in both men and women. It takes a long time to treat and the therapy is quite complicated. The disease is characterized by the development of degenerative and destructive processes in the joint. Symptoms of the pathology include: first, the patient’s joint begins to ache after running, long walks, or climbing stairs. And at rest, the uncomfortable feeling goes away. Movements are not restricted here yet. In the second stage of development, the following symptoms appear: the pain syndrome begins to give to the groin as well as the thigh. Daily stress increases the intensity of feelings, but they disappear at rest. Prolonged walking causes the appearance of lameness, the joint begins to click. The work of the muscles and tendons is interrupted, their tone decreases. In the last stage of the disease, the patient also has pains at night, and these are quite severe. Paralysis becomes severe. Muscles lose their volume and atrophy - one becomes immobile. Treatment can stop or slow down the destruction of the joint.

These diseases can lead to permanent lameness, and this is already a limitation of work activity, a lack of full-fledged sports education. Even getting up in the morning can be very difficult.

Inflammatory and infectious causes of pain

In addition to direct damage to the bones of the joint, inflammation of the muscles, tendons, and joint capsule can cause discomfort. And infectious diseases can also trigger pain syndrome:

• Purulent arthritis. Signs of such pathology include an increase in general temperature, redness of the skin in the joint area, severe swelling, sharp or sharp pain. Any load (running and even walking) or even a banal uprising becomes impossible. The pain begins to break through. Treatment here should not be delayed as the patient will develop sepsis.
• Femoral head necrosis (aseptic). It is mostly observed in fairly young men. The disease appears in this area due to deteriorating blood circulation. The development of necrosis results in the death of tissue cells. There are the following signs of pathology: acute pain that may radiate to the groin, a burning sensation in the affected area. It can hurt so much that a person is unable to lean on the affected leg, getting out of bed is difficult for him. In most cases, the patient needs an analgesic injection to numb the joint. After a few days, the symptoms disappear. If the pathology continues to develop, the person will experience changes in the muscles and tendons - it will wither. The person develops gait disturbance and lameness.
• Tuberculous arthritis. The pathology is characterized by the fact that it develops mainly in young children who have weakened immunity. The pathology is slow. The little patient gets tired quickly, runs very little. The thigh muscles gradually atrophy. The joint starts to click, the legs become shorter. Over time, the affected joint becomes very sore. Sometimes the pain is sharp and sometimes it pulls or burns. Furthermore, dirt appears inside the joint and symptoms worsen.
• Bursitis is an inflammatory lesion of the joint bursa. The main symptom of the pathology is pain creeping along the legs. At the same time, the feelings are intense and the discomfort is very strong when getting up or walking. At rest, the injured limb hurts or burns.

Infectious pathologies cause different types of pain within the hip joint: burning, pulling, or dull sensations. Often the discomfort is felt so much that the person is unable to sleep at night. Of course, all of these conditions need to be treated urgently.

Characteristics of the diagnosis of pathology

To pinpoint the causes and factors that cause hip pain, the patient needs the attentive attitude of doctors and the correct diagnosis. The following procedures must be used:

• Ultrasound examination of the hip joint.
• X-ray of the thigh area and this should be done in two projections.
• Laboratory blood tests: general and biochemical. They determine the presence of rheumatoid factor, an increase in leukocyte levels, and a change in the rate of erythrocyte sedimentation.
• External palpation of the joint and recording of patient complaints.
• MRI.

After the examination, an accurate diagnosis is made and comprehensive treatment is prescribed.

How to treat pathology?

If you experience intermittent pain in the hip joint, it should be treated. Therapy depends on the cause. So the treatment of the joint depends on the pathology.

Congenital displacement

If the dislocation is congenital, special orthopedic products are used for the child's joints: braces, spacers or Frejk pillows are recommended. All of these devices keep the newborn’s feet in a new physiological position. The child must remain in them for at least six months. If conventional treatment is not effective, the baby will be prescribed surgery. That is, the femoral head is operatively placed on a newborn child and other deficiencies are corrected. After removing the orthopedic devices, the baby can be gently massaged to strengthen the muscles.

Traumatic dislocation

In the event of traumatic dislocation, the physician should restore it using medications that help relieve muscle tone. The patient should then be given peace of mind. Numbness in the limb indicates that the nerve is pinched. This will require examination by a neurologist.

Hip fracture

The hip fracture is treated by a traumatologist. In the event of such damage, the patient is referred for surgery. Conservative treatments are sometimes ineffective. But if the surgery cannot be performed, it is recommended that the patient apply a plaster bandage to the left (right) leg and from the lower back to the heel. In women or men, after 60 years, such damage to the hip bone rarely heals, and the healing process takes months. Among the consequences of this disease are insufficient functioning of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, as the patient does not have the opportunity to lead an active life and move normally. Even the meeting is a problem for him. Fracture of the joint can cause a burning sensation in the soft tissues. As for the operation, in this case, the fixation of the bone head and body with pins or screws, as well as endoprosthetics are used for the treatment.

Ankylosing spondylitis

The treatment of ankylosing spondylitis is complex. It helps reduce the intensity of symptoms caused by inflammation. Therapy includes medications (anti-inflammatory drugs, hormonal drugs, immunosuppressants), physiotherapy procedures, therapeutic practices (muscle stretching is helpful). Massaging the left or right side of the affected joint is considered equally beneficial. All medications as well as therapeutic practices are strictly selected by a traumatologist, orthopedist, or surgeon. You need to swim to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. In particularly severe cases, the patient shows left or right joint surgery.

Reiter's disease

Treatment of Reiter's pathology will require antibiotics as well as anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticosteroids, drugs that suppress the immune system, and topical ointments. The treatment lasts a long time - at least 4 months. It should be noted that the pathology presented is likely to recur in half of the cases. During treatment, muscle tone should be maintained through physical exercise - regular stretching.

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis, which can cause severe pain at rest, cannot be completely eliminated. But you should try to improve the quality of life of a sick man or woman. For this, medication is used in combination with cytostatics, hormonal agents, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and antirheumatic drugs. As for surgery, it is used only in the last stages, when walking and sitting is almost impossible. Joint fixation or arthroplasty is recommended. Exercise is also helpful, especially in stretching local ointments.

Coxarthrosis

Treatment for coxarthrosis is aimed at eliminating the cause of the development of symptoms and signs. Pathology in the early stages of development is treated by conservative methods. The patient is shown NSAIDs, chondroprotectors, and medications to improve blood circulation. Painkillers and warming ointments are used for treatment. In addition, the patient is prescribed light therapeutic training. Of course, the joint often needs to be numb. Injections are used for severe discomfort.

The last stage of coxarthrosis is no longer applicable to conservative therapy. Any strain on the joint impairs a person’s well-being. It is impossible to get out of bed without help. The patient should receive analgesic injections. In this case, the disease only needs to be treated with surgery. Joint surgery is usually required, however, it is contraindicated for very elderly people. Therefore, such patients only undergo additional surgeries. After surgical treatment, the patient needs a recovery course: easy stretching, very simple training under medical supervision. The load should be kept to a minimum.

Proper therapy will help slow down the progression of the disease somewhat as well as eliminate unpleasant symptoms.

Characteristics of the treatment of infectious and inflammatory pathologies

It all depends on the type of disease:

1. Purulent arthritis. First, the patient must numb the affected hip joint. To do this, an injection of a painkiller can be applied directly to the joint. The infection must be controlled with antibacterial agents and antibiotics. Moreover, several groups of drugs are used simultaneously. Only a doctor can prescribe them. In addition, abscess removal is performed. The diseased foot should be completely at rest, i. e. , a drywall or rail should be placed on the patient.
2. Treatment of aseptic necrosis of the femoral head involves restoration of blood flow, rapid absorption of dead areas. The limb should be anesthetized with NSAIDs. They also use vitamin complexes, drugs to reduce blood viscosity. If the thigh still hurts, an additional massage, anesthetic ointment should be applied. This condition can also be treated with physical therapy and therapeutic practices. In severe cases, minimally invasive surgical techniques or arthroplasty are used.
3. Since the hip joint is very sore in case of bursitis, it should be numb. For this, painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs are used and given by intramuscular injection. Steroids are also used to quickly get rid of serious discomfort. Because the hips and hip joints can be constantly sore, they should be kept at rest.
4. Tuberculous arthritis is treated primarily conservatively. The baby should restrict mobility with a tight bandage. If an abscess forms in the baby’s soft tissues, it should be surgically removed.

Burns, numbness of the limbs, pain in the hip joint, radiating towards the foot - these are unpleasant sensations that indicate the possible presence of serious problems.

Alternative treatment for hip pain

If a person has burning pain, has problems with tendons, but it is not desirable to take pills, he can use folk remedies. It cannot be called a panacea, but they help in complex treatment. You should, of course, consult your doctor before use.

The following folk recipes will be useful:

1. Clay compress (blue, white). Such a folk remedy makes it possible to relieve swelling and pain. It is better to alternate the clay. The clay should be applied overnight and wrapped in warm clothing.
2. Cabbage compresses. They also need honey. Spread with cabbage leaves and place where burning or sharp pain is felt. In addition, the compress is covered with a plastic bag and insulated with a woolen cloth. The course of treatment is 1 month. You can perform a light massage at intervals between compressions on the affected hip joint: rubbing, stroking.
3. Homemade ointment made of inner fat and white perestroot root (250 gr. ). The fat should be melted, add the chopped root in the meat grinder and put on low heat. The mixture should be boiled for 7 minutes. After the ointment has cooled, it should be applied overnight to the affected hip joint. In this case, the joint must be insulated. This folk remedy relieves swelling and other unpleasant symptoms well.
4. A kind of folk remedy made from garlic, celery and lemon that relieves severe tendon pain. Cooking requires 2 lemons, 300 gr. celery root, as well as 130 gr. garlic. Carefully chop each ingredient into a meat grinder and place in a container with a tight lid. The whole mixture is then poured into boiling water and mixed. Now the product needs to be tightly covered, packed in a blanket and left overnight. You should take a teaspoon for several months before eating.

The pinched hip nerve cannot be eliminated with these therapies. Limb numbness should warn and force you to see a neurologist. Any painful changes in the hip joint should be identified and treated in a timely manner. Lightweight gymnastics and stretching exercises help prevent the development of functional disorders of the hip joint.