Osteoarthritis of the hip joint is the common name for a group of diseases that includes all diseases of the degenerative system of the hip joint that destroy cartilage tissue, has a progressive nature. This disease has another name - coxarthrosis. The disease is characterized by pain in the upper area, difficult to treat and diagnose.
Causes and mechanism of development of hip osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis of the hip joint is divided into primary and secondary. The primary is a disease that has developed independently of other factors, such as a side effect of the natural aging process. Secondary osteoarthritis is the result of a complication of a disease of a different nature.
With a healthy pelvis, the distance between the head of the femur and the acetabulum is clearly visible on the X-ray. This shows the optimal condition of the cartilage that covers the thigh, while at the same time a sign of lack of osteoarthritis. If the distance is not noticeable, the cartilage is damaged, which means that there is every reason to assume the presence of the disease described above. This form of osteoarthritis is not genetic, ie it is not usually inherited. However, factors such as cartilage weakness, bone fragility, metabolic disorders can be passed down from generation to generation and cause the development of osteoarthritis.
However, the main causes of this disease are various diseases of infectious, traumatic nature. For example:
- Hip dislocation, hip dysplasia are congenital diseases, most often diagnosed in early childhood with the help of ultrasound. It is very important to identify this pathology, which is present in ten percent of newborns, as early as possible, as the correction of dysplasia is possible only in the first two years of life.
- Infectious and chronic inflammatory diseases such as tuberculosis of the hip joint. This disease is especially dangerous due to the very difficult diagnosis. Often the symptoms are so mild that they are confused with another disease. Even an X-ray sometimes helps to identify tuberculosis only at an advanced stage, when full recovery is no longer possible. All this is aggravated by the fact that there is a shortage of narrow specialists in the country who can properly diagnose and treat this disease.
- Metabolic and thyroid disorders, such as diabetes mellitus.
- Perthes' disease, which most often affects boys. In this disease the head of the femur suffers, its blood circulation is disturbed, as a result of which the cartilage tissue suffers.
- Various mechanical injuries, such as injuries and sprains of the hip joint.
Symptoms
Osteoarthritis is an extremely dangerous disease, as it can be completely asymptomatic at first. Often, just by chance, an X-ray reveals the presence of this disease in a patient who has not found any signs of it.
Osteoarthritis of the hip joint can be of the first, second or third degree, depending on the severity of the disease. Osteoarthritis of the first degree is characterized by pain only during exercise, such as walking, and only the joint itself hurts. On an X-ray, the distance between the head of the femur and the cavity is about half the normal distance. In second-degree disease, the pain intensifies, radiates to the groin and may be present even at rest, lameness may occur. The third degree is the most severe, when the patient can not move independently without aids, the pain is constant. One is forced to lean to one side when walking due to shortened legs.
Diagnosis
When diagnosing, it is important to make a proper medical history. In this case, first of all, attention is paid to the nature and duration of pain, the location of pain points, atrophy of muscles and nerve endings, the characteristics of the patient's gait and the state of blood circulation in the limbs.
In all this, X-ray examination is crucial in the diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the hip, but additional tests may be needed, such as: MRI of the thigh, taking a puncture of the painful area, tomography of the limbs, ultrasound.
Treatment of the disease
First of all, in the treatment of osteoarthritis it is necessary to eliminate the pain or at least reduce it to a level tolerated by the patient. For this, NSAIDs are used, which not only fight pain, but also relieve inflammation.
Then drugs are prescribed that provide nourishment to the cartilage tissue, which are able to restore it, but only in the early stages of the disease. If necessary, hormonal injections are prescribed. However, only a doctor can prescribe all the drugs listed above!
There is the use of physiotherapy (although many experts consider such treatment a waste of time). This is a special massage, laser treatment, manual therapy, physiotherapy exercises. However, these procedures take a lot of time, as well as the patient's resources, and are not the determining method of treatment.
However, in osteoarthritis of the 3rd degree, doctors usually insist on surgery, while replacing the destroyed joint with a prosthesis.
Folk methods of dealing with osteoarthritis
Folk medicine also does not stay away from the treatment of serious illness. For these purposes, various ointments and compresses made from birch leaves, burdock, cabbage are used. They are pounded into a slurry and then tied to the site of pain.
A mixture of copper, alcohol, iodine and glycerin is used as compresses. Traditional medicine confirms the effectiveness of baths with a decoction of nettles. Also, treatment with bee stings has become very popular to eliminate the disease. Tincture of honey, carrots, beets, radishes and aloe juice should be poured with vodka and insist for a week, after which the tincture can be drunk once a day, 20 grams.
Prevention of coxarthrosis
As a rule, preventive measures include strict weight control (because being overweight puts a lot of strain on the hip joints), proper distribution of physical activity so as not to overload the joints, and timely, at the slightest suspicion, contact a specialist.
Osteoarthritis of the hip is an extremely unpleasant and serious disease that threatens serious complications, but timely consultation with a qualified doctor will help to avoid the terrible consequences of the disease.