Hip injuries are very common in a lot of people who are either getting old or have suffered a huge impact on the hip joint, causing their hip to be dislocated or injured. Here are some of the very common hip injuries according to orthopedic hip surgeons.
Iliopsoas Impingement & Snapping Hip
Any strain in the hip flexor bone can lead to a condition where your hips will snap and it will cause excruciating pain. The main reason can be due to not flexing the muscles properly before doing any strenuous or rigid activity. The muscles and tendons surrounding the hip flexor can tighten and become very rigid and it can lead to cracking of the bone if a lot of strain is applied on it. If your hip snaps, you will not be able to walk properly or sit down anywhere for long periods of time.
Avascular Necrosis
Believe it or not, your bones need blood supply too. If your bone is suffering from some sort of halt in blood supply, due to falling or an impact, the part of the bone which is not receiving blood supply can die. This is known as avascular necrosis. When the femur doesn’t receive enough circulation, it may weaken and die.
Weakening of the bones can lead to severe pain and fractures, if it is not tackled immediately, so it should be treated as a medical emergency. The bone can also collapse and get permanently damaged, in worse cases.
Gluteus Medius Tears
The gluteus medius muscle is a very important muscle just below the hip which controls the lifting of legs, kicking and the swaying movement of the hips. There can be tears in the muscle when it is stretched beyond its strength. Although the tears are not evident at first, it may cause persistent pain in the hips after some time.
An X-ray can be used to find out the tears. Usually, the tears will fuse together within some time, but you need to cut back on strenuous activities to allow the muscles to heal completely.
Hip Dislocation
The general dislocation of the hip bone or femur is very common to occur in a lot of people. The femur can be dislocated by impact or falling and it is very common in old people whose bones are very fragile and the slightest impact can dislodge or dislocate a bone.
The pain is very bad and if the bone is dislocated in a way where it is poking with muscles and nerves, then inflammation and loss of sensation can also occur. This can be quite dangerous and you need to see a doctor as soon as possible.
Bursitis
The inflammation of the fluid filled sacs between the joint and tissue of the hips, also known as Bursae, can cause severe pain in the hips. This can lead to difficulty in sitting down, difficulty in moving and so forth. This can be quite an uncomfortable situation and you will find yourself experiencing a lot of pain in the hip area. You can also see some swelling on the hips where the Bursae are located. This condition is known as Bursitis.
In extreme cases, where the pain is unbearable, surgery is performed, where the fluids are leaked out of the sacs. The surgery is quite invasive and recovery time is long as well.
Hip Fractures
One of the very common hip injuries are hip fractures. Hip fractures are small or big lesions or cracks in the bones of hips. This can be caused by impact, falling on the hips or the general weakness of bones because of some bone disorder like arthritis or osteoporosis. Nonetheless, hip fractures take a lot of time to heal and the pain can be quite excruciating.
Complete bed rest is proposed when it comes to hip fractures and the bone takes its time to fuse and heal altogether. Until that time, you cease to do any sort of strenuous activity.
These hip injuries are very important to know about, since you need to treat them as soon as possible, so you can save yourself from more excruciating pain. Once the injury is diagnosed, a treatment or surgery can be proposed by a hip orthopedic specialist McLean.
