As you know, the largest joint in our body is the hip. It took almost the full load while walking. Also, he is often exposed to conditions such as arthropathy or hip disease. What is it and how is hip osteoarthritis treated? We will discuss this issue in our article.
What is hip disease?
To understand the nature of hip joint disease, treatment is very difficult and you need to delve into the structure of the hip joint. It itself has the form of a "hinge" whose function is to connect with the pelvis of the femur. The fixation is carried out with the help of a spherical head, which is embedded in the cavity of the hip bone. Both the head surface and the cavity surface are covered with cartilage. They provide shock absorption and prevent wear.
Thus, the destruction of these cartilage structures contributes to the development of arthropathy. That is, elastic and durable cartilage, due to some intrinsic or extrinsic factors, becomes dry and hardened, and its surface becomes rough instead of smooth. This structure interferes with normal function and causes the slow and painful destruction of the hip joint. Therefore, it is important to know how to relieve the pain of hip joint disease, which will be discussed in detail later.
In advanced stages, the bones are deformed so much that the patient loses the ability to walk. Taken together, it is possible to form the definition of diseases such as hip arthropathy - the destruction of all or part of the integrity of the articular surface. It is also important to understand that the concepts of arthropathy, hip disease and osteoarthritis are actually the same. It's just that arthropathy is a broader definition, the other two are the same thing and only apply to the hip joint.
Reason for performance
According to doctors, hip disease can occur for many reasons, but we only consider the most common:
- Congenital disease. The most common are dysplasia (curvature) and congenital hip dislocation. They almost always result in grade 1 hip dysplasia.
- genetic predisposition. This is when the disease is common in your family.
- passive lifestyle. With inactivity, cartilage loses elasticity and elasticity, and can deform.
- Violation of hormonal background. This violation can easily cause inflammation of the joint tissue.
- age. In 70% of cases, arthropathy occurs in people over the age of 40. It's all about the body's natural aging and largely maintaining a sedentary lifestyle.
- Injuried. Joint damage can lead to thinning or even deforming the cartilage, which is inevitable in the anterior hip joint.
- overweight. The sign - a lot of weight, which will constantly overload the hip joint. Such prolonged loads inevitably cause the cartilage to wear down, leading to the destruction of the hip joint.
- heavy load. Athletes fall into this risk category.
- A simple circulatory disorder. For some reason, the body's blood circulation may fail. Therefore, in the tissues around the joints, a large amount of residues accumulate after metabolism, which leads to the production of enzymes, but they in turn destroy the cartilage tissue.
- Hip disease. Another fairly common cause of hip disease. The problem is that incorrect or untimely treatment of any other hip disease (various infections or even necrosis of the femoral head) can easily lead to the development of osteoarthritis.
symptom
Symptoms are mild in the early stages of the disease, so no one considers treatment for 1st degree hip osteoarthritis. Symptoms include stiffness and discomfort in the hip joint after waking up in the morning. Discomfort or pain is exacerbated by physical exertion and diminished or disappears completely with rest. Patients often don't notice these symptoms, but preventing hip disease does not help here.
In more advanced stages, the disease has started to be completely irritable, and even at rest, everyone is thinking about which doctor to treat the hip disease in order to contact him in time. In addition, the joint becomes inflamed, loses mobility, and the cartilage collapses to form bone spurs. Even with prolonged rest, the pain does not subside, and movement is rather limited. Here you will need information on how to treat grade 3 hip disease, which you can find with us.
Then the cartilage disappears completely and the bones begin to rub against each other. Getting around becomes quite difficult. As a result, the inactivity that causes the muscles to weaken and even atrophy begins to deform the osteoarthritis of the hip. The length of the legs may also vary. There is a pronounced limp. Here, conservative treatment of third-degree hip arthropathy will no longer be helpful. The final stage is complete inability to walk.
diagnosis
To properly diagnose and treat hip osteoarthritis, you need to consult your doctor. So which doctor can treat hip joint disease without surgery? You will need to contact a rheumatologist or an orthopaedic trauma specialist. Diagnosis will start by asking the patient what the pain is, the specific location of the pain, the frequency of the pain, etc. To assess the intensity of the pain, the doctor will perform several operations on the joint. It flexes, stretches and rotates the lower body. Additionally, the patient may be asked to walk to assess the external configuration of the joint.
However, clinical blood tests can more accurately confirm the diagnosis. Here, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate will increase significantly, i. e. from above 30 mm/h. Increased globulin, serum mucin, immunoglobulin, and C-reactive protein are also symptoms of hip arthropathy. To determine their levels, biochemical blood tests are required. However, while such tests are not sufficient to prescribe hip arthropathy of the hip.
The mandatory event is radiography. But there's a significant negative slip through here - only the bone and the bone seal are visible in the picture, not the cartilage and soft tissue. Therefore, early diagnosis will be very difficult. In this case, computed tomography will help to draw a complete picture, and already on this basis, it is possible to illustrate how to treat hip arthropathy. However, if you have a 4 degree hip doa or deformed joint, all these procedures will become unnecessary. After all, the disease is visible to the naked eye, and joint prevention and treatment without surgery will no longer be useful.
Degree and Type
Depending on the neglect and symptoms of the disease, 4 degrees of its manifestations can be distinguished.
| degree | describe |
|---|---|
| first | Degree 1 hip osteoarthritis is easily overlooked. Its symptoms are recurring pain in the hip joint after prolonged exercise. Once the load stops, the pain goes away. X-rays show only a slight narrowing of the joint space. Disease can be easily prevented if you position yourself in time. |
| second | Degree 2 Hip Osteoarthritis - Symptoms begin to appear, which is the start of cartilage tissue destruction. The pain intensified and radiated to the thigh and groin. Even in a calm state, they start to show. There may be a noticeable limp. Morning stiffness syndrome occurs periodically in the morning. We will discuss further how to treat hip arthropathy of the 2nd degree hip. |
| third | Stage three is when the disease is already very advanced. There is little cartilage left. Radiographs showed strong linear narrowing of the space between the joints. Pain at this stage is permanent and can only go away with the help of medication. At the same time, the patient's movements are very limited, and in order to move, he needs crutches or crutches, on which he can lean. Soft tissue begins to shrink and swelling occurs in the joint area. This raises the question of how to treat grade 3 osteoarthritis of the hip: conservative approach or surgical intervention. |
| fourth | The fourth stage is the most neglected and cannot be done without surgical intervention. Accompanied by severe pain in the joint area. Such joints all but disappear and the bones begin to grow together. The symptoms are the same as in stage III, but there is no possibility of any movement of the pelvic joints. |
For the types of hip joint disease, it seems to be understood. Now, a brief introduction to the types of this disease. So, the most popular are 2 categories. The first is a classification based on the number of joints affected - 1 or 2. Everything here is simple, if 1, then they say hip disease is unilateral. If the joints on either side of the hip bone are affected, then they're talking about bilateral joints.
But there is another equally popular classification, which refers to a disease according to the cause of its occurrence. There are 7 types here:
- Changes in the joints and cartilage with age is what is known as involute hip arthropathy.
- Hip disease caused by complications of Perthes disease. As a result, the spongy tissue covering the femoral head becomes necrotic.
- Congenital dysplasia of one or more joints is called dysplastic hip disease. According to doctors, it is fairly common that every ten cases are the result of congenital subluxation of the femoral head, or so-called dysplasia.
- Complications after arthritis or post-infectious hip disease.
- Post-traumatic hip arthropathy. This is the result of an incorrect constant load on the joint, which causes minimal trauma, which in turn slowly destroys the cartilage tissue.
- The next risk group includes people taking antidepressants and corticosteroid medications, and others with any hormonal disorder. This type is called abnormal arthropathy.
- Well, if the cause of the disease cannot be determined, then you will be diagnosed with idiopathic hip disease.
treatment method
There are many treatments for hip joint disease, but there is no complete cure. All treatments can be divided into three phases.
- Disease prevention or prophylaxis.
- Treatment in the early stages (first and second stages).
- Treatment in advanced stages (third and fourth stages).
Conservative treatment
This includes treating the first and second stages of the development of hip joint disease. As mentioned earlier, there is no cure for this disease, and you can simply eliminate all the factors that contribute to the increased load on your joints. Moderate loads that will develop joints will not be superfluous. This includes light loads such as therapeutic exercises, swimming, cycling, etc. Such training not only helps to develop joints, but also helps to keep them in good shape.
Equally important is weight correction, excess, and proper nutrition. You also need to pay attention to getting enough sleep and rest. Massages, including special massages and self-massages, can also help. In the second stage, as the pain increases, NSAIDs are required. Well, if the disease progresses to grade 3, it can also be treated without surgery, but there is no need to disdain the use of sticks or crutches to relieve the extra burden on the pelvis.
Operation
The attending physician may already decide to perform surgery to cure the arthropathy of the hip joint in the third stage. 4 types of operations are performed:
- Arthroplasty - Modeling the cartilage on the joint. With its help, you can restore the function of your joints almost completely.
- Osteotomy is the dissection of bone in such a way that the deformed area is completely eliminated without deforming normal tissue.
- Arthrodesis - the joint is fixed to the bone with the help of special plates and screws. A more aggressive approach to intervention. After that, the joints remain stationary.
- An endoprosthesis is a complex procedure for the hip joint. Honestly, this is not an operation on the joint, it is completely replaced with a prosthesis based on the patient's anatomy. Therefore, complete or partial replacement is performed, which is why hip disease can be cured. The success rate is about 70%. What procedures are there before surgery, and how to heal yourself psychologically after surgery, we will cover in the next article.
prevention
Many people think that the joint disease of the elderly is not treated at all, but if it is treated in time from a young age, it can be cured. This is not true. Since it is only possible to cure hip joint disease in the case of arthroplasty, it is better to warn him in advance. This includes managing excess stress on the joints, maintaining an active lifestyle, and managing nutrition and weight. Regular sleep and rest is also important. You can have regular massage treatments. Regular intake of chondroprotective agents is recommended.