Saturday 13 August 2011

Hip Pain and Arthritis: Get the Facts

Hip pain is commonly due to arthritis. Find out how arthritis causes wear and tear on the hip joints and can even lead to hip replacement. 


Arthritis is a frequent cause of hip pain and hip replacement. Yet the term arthritis actually covers a number of different conditions, such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis.
Hip Pain and Osteoarthritis
“The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis, so-called ‘wear and tear arthritis,’” says Thomas Parker Vail, MD, professor and chairman of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, San Francisco.
Osteoarthritis is caused by the gradual wearing down of cartilage in a joint, which can lead to inflammation of joint lining. It can also be due to an injury to the joint, sometimes referred to as “traumatic arthritis.”
Risk factors for osteoarthritis include:
  • Aging
  • Obesity
  • Damage or trauma to the joint
  • Structural problems with the joint
  • Having rheumatoid arthritis
Symptoms of osteoarthritis develop slowly, beginning with stiffness or soreness in your hip or hips and eventually becoming painful enough to prevent you from doing normal activities, such as walking or climbing stairs.
Look out for any of these symptoms:
  • Pain in the inner thigh, buttock, or groin area
  • Pain in your outer thigh down to your knee
  • Tendency to limp
Hip Pain and Rheumatoid Arthritis
“There are other conditions like rheumatoid arthritis in which inflammation rather than the wear and tear instigates pain. It may be an immune system response that causes the deterioration characteristic of this kind of joint pain,” explains Dr. Vail, who notes that this is often seen at its most extreme in children who have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease that affects the entire body, not just your hips. It begins with a swelling of the lining of joints, called the synovial lining, and progresses to the deterioration of bone and cartilage.
One way to tell the difference between RA and osteoarthritis is to note whether you have pain in only one or two joints (such as your hips) or whether you feel it in other joints, including your knuckles, knees, and shoulders. If you feel pain in many joints, that indicates more of a systemic problem as opposed to the wear and tear of osteoarthritis, says Vail.
The cause of RA is not fully understood, although researchers believe that an abnormal response of the body’s immune system contributes to the disease. Research also points to the possibility that RA’s cause lies in your genes or even infections. Women are particularly at risk. They are two to three times more likely than men to develop RA and are most vulnerable in the year after giving birth.
Symptoms of RA include:
  • Pain developing in joints on both sides of the body, like the same knuckle on the right hand as on the left
  • Swelling of the affected joints
  • Tiredness
  • Morning stiffness
  • Soreness after sitting for a long time
  • Weakness
  • Muscle pain
  • Anemia
  • Unusual lumps, especially on elbows, called rheumatoid nodules
Early diagnosis of RA is critical to preserving your quality of life, so see a doctor as soon as you become concerned about joint pain.

1 comments:

Wow is just the simple word that may explain that how much I liked it. It was nicely stuffed with the material I was looking for. It’s great to be here though by chance.
seattle pain management clinic

Post a Comment

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More