Hip osteoarthritis pain - what can I do?

General

Hip osteoarthritis is the most common form of osteoarthritis. This is because the hip joint is one of the most stressed joints in the human body, which has to support and move all of its weight every day. Many people therefore suffer from hip osteoarthritis at an early age, from around 30 years of age.

This is where you typically experience pain

Hip arthrosis (coxarthrosis) usually begins gradually. At the beginning, those affected feel only slight pain in the morning shortly after getting up (so-called "starting pain"). Over time, the discomfort increases and the pain becomes worse. When stressed, the hip joint hurts and walking is difficult.

Typically, the pain also occurs in the groin on the side of the affected hip joint. From there it can radiate into the thigh and knee joint. Hip osteoarthritis causes chronic pain that, if left untreated, can last for weeks to months.

Pain radiating to the legs

Hip osteoarthritis can cause pain in the entire leg on the affected side. If there is initially only pain in the hip and groin area, this pain can extend over the entire leg as the osteoarthritis progresses. First they pull up into the thigh, then further into the knee and even the shin can be affected by the pain.

The pain radiates into the groin

In the early stages of hip osteoarthritis, the pain mainly occurs in the groin area. The pain occurs when you walk for a long time, as well as in the morning when you take the first steps after getting up. As the disease progresses, the pain can then spread and affect other regions and joints.

The pain radiates into the buttocks

Hip osteoarthritis can also cause pain in the buttocks. This often occurs after the pain has passed from the groin area to the lateral hip region. From there they can radiate down to the buttocks and in some cases even to the lumbar spine.

The pain radiating to the thighs

In the course of the hip osteoarthritis disease, there is often referred pain that extends from the hip to the thigh. In addition, the thigh's ability to move is increasingly restricted, as the rotation of the head of the thigh in the acetabulum causes pain. Bending over and especially splaying the thigh are very painful.

The pain radiates into the tibia

The pain associated with hip osteoarthritis can not only radiate into the thigh and knee, but even into the shin. This is the case in the advanced stage of hip osteoarthritis.

Appointment with a hip expert?

I would be happy to advise you!

Who am I?
My name is dr. Nicolas Gumpert. I am a specialist in orthopedics and the founder of .
Various television programs and print media report regularly about my work. On HR television you can see me every 6 weeks live on "Hallo Hessen".
But now enough is indicated ;-)

The hip joint is one of the joints that are exposed to the greatest stress.
The treatment of the hip (e.g. hip arthrosis, hip impingement, etc.) therefore requires a lot of experience.
I treat all hip diseases with a focus on conservative methods.
The aim of any treatment is treatment without surgery.
Which therapy achieves the best results in the long term can only be determined after looking at all of the information (Examination, X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, etc.) be assessed.

You can find me in:

• Lumedis - your orthopedic surgeon
  Kaiserstrasse 14
  60311 Frankfurt am Main

Directly to the online appointment arrangement
Unfortunately, it is currently only possible to make an appointment with private health insurers. I hope for your understanding!
Further information about myself can be found at Dr. Nicolas Gumpert

Pain at night

If the joint pain also occurs increasingly at night in the case of hip arthrosis, this indicates that the disease is further progressing. Initially, the pain occurs due to the strain and the hips hurt when you take your first steps in the morning or after sitting for a long time.In the next stage, the pain also occurs increasingly at rest and at night. It is a dull pain that can only affect the hip joint or can radiate to other regions such as the thigh, buttocks, knee or shin.

reduce pain

There are various ways to relieve the pain of hip osteoarthritis. As a patient, you can do a lot to ensure that the pain is permanently less. Above all, this includes regular, light movement, which is intended to maintain the mobility of the joint. However, the hip joint should not be overloaded, which is why the selection of the type of movement is very important. Swimming and aqua aerobics are particularly suitable for osteoarthritis of the hip, since the water does not put such a heavy weight on the hip. In addition, if you are overweight, you should aim to reduce weight so as not to put additional strain on the hip joint.

In addition, regular therapy measures such as physiotherapy, massages, heat and cold applications can alleviate the pain.

If this does not have a sufficient effect, medication must be used to temporarily or even permanently reduce the pain. Orthopedic measures are particularly useful if the hip arthrosis is based on a malalignment.

Diet plays an important role in relieving the pain of osteoarthritis. Care should be taken to ensure that pork, sugar, alcohol, wheat bread and cream in particular are consumed in moderation, while fruits, vegetables, salads, skimmed milk products, whole grain products, cold water fish and cold pressed oils should be included in the diet. A permanent change in diet can provide long-term pain relief.

Hence the pain

The hip joint, along with the knee joint, is one of the largest joints in the human body and a healthy hip carries many times its own body weight. This means that even with everyday stress, great forces act on the femoral head and the socket in the pelvic bone. Cartilage tissue between these two structures prevents the articular surfaces from rubbing against each other. With osteoarthritis, the cartilage tissue is destroyed more and more in the course of the disease, and lost cartilage cannot be replaced. For this reason, hip osteoarthritis is also known as a degenerative disease and means something like "hip joint wear and tear".

Without an intervening layer of cartilage, the two bones of the hip joint permanently rub against each other and deform. The joint surfaces can no longer slide smoothly past each other as in a healthy joint. This makes the joint space larger and irregular, bony attachments (so-called osteophytes) form on the joint and the joint surfaces become inflamed. As a result, the hip joint loses its function and the patient suffers from restricted mobility and pain.

Other accompanying symptoms

In addition to joint pain and the characteristic groin pain, which occur mainly in the morning or after physical exertion, hip osteoarthritis can cause other symptoms. The loss of cartilage limits the function of the hips and those affected have problems walking. The maximum walking distance decreases steadily in the course of the illness. Walking is particularly difficult after lying or sitting for a long time and patients limp or bend their leg on the affected side.

The progressive wear and tear of the joints slowly leads to a stiffening of the hip and patients have problems with hip flexion. This is particularly noticeable when putting on socks or shoes. Cracking or rubbing noises can also occur as the two joint surfaces audibly rub against each other. In order to alleviate the pain, the affected people usually fall into a relieving position unnoticed. However, this leads to tension in the muscles in the hip area and, in turn, to muscle pain. In the case of an acute inflammatory process, the hips can also become reddened and overheated, and swelling in the affected part of the body indicates an inflammatory process.

Read more on the subject at: Symptoms of hip osteoarthritis

Causes of hip osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is one Wear processwhich wears away the cartilage that covers the articular surfaces. Since this cartilage normally acts as a buffer, if the cartilage is lost, it becomes a Rubbing the bones together a joint that can cause severe pain.

On the one hand, osteoarthritis can result from the daily strain of walking and moving, but it is increasingly caused by certain circumstances. Which includes heavy loadin which the wear process occurs faster, Accidents and other injurieswho had affected the joint and an increased exposure to excess weight. But also innate causes, like one Misalignment of the hip joint can lead to osteoarthritis due to the permanent incorrect loading.

Osteoarthritis occurs more frequently, especially in advanced age, as the amount of fluid in the body becomes less and the cartilage partly consists of fluid. The elasticity and the Resilience of the cartilage to take in order to from.

Symptoms of hip osteoarthritis

In most cases the osteoarthritis runs in the Initial stages very harmless and does not cause any problems. The first symptoms only appear when the cartilage has worn down to a certain extent. These are often expressed initially as Morning stiffness. With osteoarthritis of the hip, the first steps after getting up are difficult and can also cause slight pain. After the first steps, however, these symptoms will initially disappear. These start-up pains often occur even after long periods of sitting. In addition, there is pain in the hip with high stress. For example after a long walk or while Stooping and Climb stairs pain may occur more frequently. These joint pain also occur later at rest and at night as the disease progresses. A typical symptom of hip osteoarthritis is pain in the hip when turning the leg around its own axis, for example at Rotation of the foot outwards.

In addition, the walking distance, i.e. the distance that can be walked painlessly, becomes shorter and shorter over time and the patient begins to limp over longer distances. In addition, the mobility of the hip joint decreases, which is particularly noticeable when putting on socks and shoes. When moving the hip joint can often be a Rub or crunch heard or felt. This is brought about by the roughened surface of the wearing cartilage.

Initially, the pain mainly occurs in the area of ​​the hip joint itself. This pain is often described as groin pain. In the course of the disease, however, they can radiate over the front of the thigh to the knee joint and shin. Also a Radiation of pain over the side hip region to the buttocks is possible. In some cases, the pain extends from the hip to the lumbar spine. In the initial stage, these pains also only occur when the patient is exerted, and pain at rest and at night only occurs as the disease progresses.

Due to the pain in the hip joint and also in the other joints, the patient takes one in the long term Relieving posture or changes its gait in such a way that the muscles and tendons of the leg are stressed in a different way than is the case in healthy people. This can be too Tension and one stooped posture which can cause back pain.

In the phase of activated hip arthrosis, if so acute episode exists, in addition to the complaints, a swelling, Redness and overheat of the joint.

Diagnosis of hip osteoarthritis

The diagnosis of hip osteoarthritis is made with the help of imaging procedures posed. If the patient complains of pain that is typical of hip arthrosis, an x-ray of the hip is taken, on which hip arthrosis can usually be recognized. This can be through a narrowed joint space recognize that is caused by the abrasion of the cartilage. In order to better assess the situation of the muscles and tendons, an ultrasound (Sonography) of the hip.

Therapy for hip osteoarthritis

In the case of acute pain due to hip arthrosis, the drug treatment for pain relief in the first place. In addition, there are also other non-drug treatment methods to counteract osteoarthritis. Orthopedic aids, like deposits or Walking aids can help to relieve the affected hip joint and thus relieve the pain. Walking aids are mostly used on the side of the sick leg to relieve the affected joint. Physiotherapy can also be helpful for hip osteoarthritis. This allows the Mobility of the joint can be improved through targeted exercises and the Muscles of the hip region can be strengthened. By strengthening the muscles, the hip joint has more support when moving and this can have a positive effect on pain. In the early stages of hip osteoarthritis, regular physiotherapy can be sufficient therapy. Electrotherapy is also possible, in which electrode plates are glued to the skin of the hip joint and here low frequency currents be generated. This therapy is called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). Likewise can Heating or cooling applications relieve the pain of hip osteoarthritis.

If there is a severe deformity of the hip joint, which is the cause of the hip arthrosis, an operative correction of this deformity should be considered in order to prevent further progression of the disease and worsening of the symptoms.

Medication

Medicines are used for hip osteoarthritis to relieve the pain. First of all, drugs from the group of so-called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used that against acute pain Act. These include acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), Ibuprofen, diclofenac and Ketoprofen. Unlike the steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the nonsteroidal drugs contain no Cortisone. she reduce on the one hand the Pain and also inhibit inflammation at the same time. However, drugs from the group of NSAIDs should only be administered for a limited period of time, as they have some side effects, including stomach problems in particular.

Which contain steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs Corticoids. These are substances that are very similar to the endogenous hormone cortisone. she inhibit inflammatory reactions in the body and are usually injected directly into the affected hip joint in order to be able to develop their effects in a targeted manner.

There are also other pain relievers that only relieve pain. These include, for example, the opioids that are prescribed for very severe hip pain.