Hip Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis, also called degenerative joint disease, is the most common form of arthritis. It occurs most often in older people. This disease affects the tissue covering the ends of bones in a joint called cartilage. In a person with osteoarthritis, the cartilage becomes damaged and worn out, causing pain, swelling, stiffness and restricted movement in the affected joint. Although osteoarthritis may affect various joints, including the hips, knees, hands and spine, the hip joint is most commonly affected. Rarely, the disease may affect the shoulders, wrists and feet.

Osteoarthritis is characterised by damaged articular cartilage lining the hip joint. Advanced age is one of the most common reasons for osteoarthritis of the hip. You may also develop osteoarthritis in any of the following cases:

• past hip injury or fracture
• family history of osteoarthritis
• suffering from hip diseases such as avascular necrosis, and other congenital or developmental hip diseases

How do you know if you have osteoarthritis of the hip? The characteristic symptoms and diagnostic tests help in diagnosing the condition. You will experience severe pain confined to the hip and thighs, morning stiffness and limited range of motion. Based on the symptoms, your orthopaedic surgeon will perform a physical examination, and order X-rays, other scans and blood tests to rule out other conditions that may cause similar symptoms.

Management of osteoarthritis

There are several treatments and lifestyle modifications that can help you ease your pain and symptoms.

• Medications: Pain-relieving medications such as NSAIDs, COX-2 inhibitors and opioids may be prescribed. Topical medications such as ointments can be applied to the skin to relieve pain. If the pain is very severe, corticosteroid injections can be given directly into the affected joint to ease the pain.
• Other treatments: Your physiotherapist will teach you exercises to keep your joints flexible and improve muscle strength. Heat/cold therapy, which involves applying heat or cold packs to the joints, provides temporary pain relief. Lifestyle modifications can be done to control your weight and avoid extra stress on the weight-bearing joints.
• Surgery: Hip joint replacement surgery is considered an option when the pain is so severe that it affects your ability to carry out normal activities.
  

  Other Conditions

  • Femoroacetabular Impingement
  • Cam Impingement
  • Pincer Impingement
  • Labral Tears
  • Ligamentum Teres Tear
  • Trochanteric Bursitis
  • Psoas Tendinopathy
  • Muscle Strain
  • Hip Bursitis
  • Hip Avascular Necrosis
  • Hip Fracture
  • Hip Dislocation
  • Gluteus Medius Tear
  • Hip Labral Tear
  • Chondral Lesions
  • Hip Instability
  • Loose Bodies
  • Hip Osteoarthritis
  • Inflammatory Arthritis of the Hip
  • Childhood Hip Problems