Hip Arthritis Symptoms

Arthritis is a condition in which the joints of the patient gets inflamed. When arthritis affects the joints of the hip, it is called hip arthritis. The pelvic bones are connected to the thigh through hip joints. The most common form of hip arthritis is osteoarthritis.

Causes of Hip Arthritis
People over the age of 50 are commonly affected with hip arthritis. It is not very clear as to why some people are more prone to hip arthritis than others. There are certain factors like obesity, which make people more prone to hip arthritis. Hip arthritis can be a hereditary condition. Hip fracture or any injury to the hip joint, may also result in hip arthritis.

Symptoms of Hip Arthritis
Hip arthritis may have subtle symptoms initially. The main symptom being hip pain, which is not restricted to the hips only, but radiates down the thigh. People with hip arthritis often show varying periods of pain, like certain weather conditions trigger the onset of symptoms or curtail the same. Cold weather generally intensifies the pain in the hip joint. The pain progresses as the condition worsens over the years.

The hip joints, tend to become stiff with time. The cartilage, that covers the head of the thigh bone, gradually wears out causing the bones to rub against each other. This leads to stiffness and inflammation.

With the progress of the disease the range of rotation also decreases. Range of rotation, is the extent to which a joint can be extended or retracted. This makes it difficult to bend down, and the hip movement also decreases. Pronged sitting, soon becomes painful.

Many patients walk with a limp and often complain that they feel one of their legs has become shorter than the other. Patients may also hear or feel a crackling noise in their hip joint while walking. Walking soon becomes a difficult task to complete. The flaring pain decreases when one takes frequent rest while walking.

Impact of Hip Arthritis on the Day to Day Life
A patient of hip arthritis can manage to walk over one or two blocks with slight pain. Swimming and cycling are relatively less painful than walking. Increase in activity increases the pain. Climbing stairs or standing for long time may escalate the pain in the hips. As the condition progresses, the pain may radiate in the groin, side of the hip, buttocks, lower back and sometimes the knee joint also becomes painful. The patient finds it difficult to carry out daily routine tasks like tying of shoelace, bending, getting up from a chair, etc.

Treatment of Hip Arthritis
Treatment of hip arthritis include weight loss if the patient is obese. Reducing weight, lowers the stress on the joints, and makes regular activities less painful. Patients are also advised to use walking aids, to reduce the weight on the affected area. Physical therapy is also given to patients, to decrease the chances of atrophy. Anti-inflammatory drugs are advised by medical practitioners to decrease the pain. In certain cases, hip replacement therapy is also carried out.

A patient has to take proper care, when suffering from hip arthritis. Consult the doctor regarding any doubts pertaining the symptoms for hip arthritis and treatments.