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The hip is a strong deep ball and socket joint betwen the pelvis and the thigh bone.
Osteopaths look at hip mobility when assessing the patient not only to spot a problem with the hip itself but also because impaired hip function can have consequences elsewhere, in the low back for example. Restrictions in hip mobility due to contracture of muscles around the hip can have knock-one ffects. Reduced hip extension (backward bending) will often be compensated forby an increased demand for extension in the low back, compressing the tissue sat the back of the lumbar spine In sucha case, the osteopath will address the hip mobility in order to help a lowback problem.
Hip pain is usually felt in the groin, side of the thigh or knee (rarely in the buttock), usually on walking .
One of the most common painful hip problems is osteoarthritis int he hip. Hip replacements – or hip resurfacing – operations are usually good solutions to hip arthritis. In the early stages and in younger patients the surgeon may be reluctant to operate, and osteopaths can help in these cases by freeing off the muscles around the joint and improving mobility.
Another condition recognised in recent years is femoro-acetabular impingement, where the head of the thigh bone knocks against the rim of the hip socket. Again, surgery may be needed.Hip pain in children can come from “slipped femoral epiphysis” or “Perthes disease” and needs an orthopaedic opinion.Most other hip conditions involve the muscles and tendons around the hip, “Snapping hip” may come from the psoas or gluteal muscle flicking over bone, The gluteal muscle on theside of the hip can suffer from tendonitis or bursitis. Osteopaths can help here.Because the hip socket is deep, dislocations are rare and only follow serious trauma. Patients occasionally are concerned that they havea “slight” dislocation of the hip. This cannot happen in the hip.Elderly people with osteoporosis can fracture a the hip in a fall. It’s thought that what happens is the hip fractures spontaneously and then the patient falls, rather than the other way around. An x-ray taken just after the fall may not show the fracture. The best way to avoid this is pre-screening for osteoporosis,which can then be treated if found.
See also: Hip arthritis
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