Hip Arthritis
Wear and damage to the smooth covering of the hip joint, which can cause pain, stiffness and weakness.
What is it?
This is when the smooth covering on the bones in your hip joint gets damaged. This can cause hip pain, a hard time moving your hip, or weakness. This is more common in men over 50 and women over 40. In medical terms it is damage or loss of the smooth cartilage that covers the joint, along with changes in the bone underneath.
Let’s talk about it
Arthritis is like the smooth covering of your hip joint (cartilage) getting worn down. This can make the joint feel stiff and painful, especially in the morning.
Common symptoms
- Hip pain
- Less range of motion (the hip does not move as far)
- Reduced strength
- Trouble with everyday activities
- A weight-bearing joint “locking” or “giving way”
- Morning stiffness that lasts 30 minutes or less
Treatment options
Treatments include hands-on therapy, using heat or cold, and doing exercises. This includes stretching to improve hip motion and strengthening exercises for your hip muscles. Losing weight can also help.
Common treatment approaches
- Hands-on (manual) therapy
- Treatments such as heat or cold
- Therapeutic exercise and activity
- Stretching the hip flexors and the muscles that turn the hip outward, to improve hip extension and inward rotation
- Strengthening the muscles that move the leg out to the side and the hip extensors
- Exercises to steady the lower back and pelvis
- Water exercise (aquatic therapy)
Who gets it, and how it is diagnosed
- Age: more common in men over 50 and women over 40, and more common in men than in women.
- Risk factors: age, gender, obesity (extra stress on the joints), injury from work or physical activity, and earlier injuries.
- Diagnosis: imaging, your health history, a clinical assessment and objective findings.
Prevention
- Keep your joints moving
- Manage your weight
- Reduce and prevent stress and injury at work and in physical activity