Hip Pain
If you are looking for the cause of your hip pain or you do not know exactly what is causing your hip pain, let us guide you through our hip pain diagnostics and arrive at the most likely diagnosis. There are different causes for the development of hip arthrosis. In addition, the causes of hip arthrosis are not known in most cases.
In order to better differentiate between the causes of osteoarthritis of the hip, a distinction is made between primary and secondary osteoarthritis. If an arthrosis develops without an obvious trigger – and this is the case in most cases – it is called primary arthrosis. Secondary hip joint arthrosis, on the other hand, is defined as arthrosis that develops as a result of previous damage, incorrect loading, individual inflammatory processes or incorrectly positioned acetabulum (hip dysplasia) or femoral neck (impingement).
The x-ray on the top right shows you a healthy hip. The distance between the femoral head and the acetabulum is clearly visible. This distance implies that both the acetabulum and the femoral head are covered with a good layer of cartilage.
This is no longer the case with osteoarthritis. In such a case, the cartilage layer sometimes shows considerable damage. The following list shows the most common causes that can be held responsible for the development of hip arthrosis.
In most cases, additional information is available to you, which you can access via a link.
- Congenital partial or complete dislocation of the hip (hip luxation) in congenital hip dysplasia: In about 10% of all newborns, the femoral head does not lie correctly in the socket. The diagnosis is usually made by an ultrasound examination.
Depending on the individually varying extent of hip dysplasia, treatment with a spreader bandage or surgery is necessary to prevent late complications. It is of particular importance that this clinical picture is detected as early as possible, as post-ripening of the acetabular roof (reduction or elimination of hip dysplasia) is only possible within the first two years of life. In the absence of a diagnosis or treatment, permanent hip dysplasia develops with its late consequences of hip arthrosis.
- Congenital form disorder (hip dysplasia): One speaks of hip dysplasia in patients whose acetabulum is too flat or whose femoral neck angle is too steep.
As a result, the acetabular roof does not completely cover the femoral head, which means that the load is only carried by a part of the joint that is too small. This leads to early wear of the hip joint. It therefore seems plausible that such so-called prearthrotic changes (= malalignments causing osteoarthritis) should be surgically corrected at an early stage if the findings are severe.
This can be done, for example, by so-called repositioning osteotomies. When comparing the X-ray image of a hip dysplasia with the X-ray image of a healthy hip (see above), serious differences become apparent. It seems logical that this cannot be without consequences.
A gender-specific comparison shows that women suffer relatively more frequently from hip dysplasia. The ratio between women and men is about 9:1.
- Metabolic disorders: Diabetes mellitus Diabetes mellitus causes changes in the blood vessels, which in turn lead to circulatory disorders in the region of the femoral head. The consequence of this reduced supply is, for example, a deformation of the femoral head or, in the worst case, death of the femoral head (femoral head necrosis, see below).
- Gout: Patients suffering from gout have an increased uric acid content in the blood.
If the uric acid content is about 8 mgdl or higher, the probability of a deposit of so-called uric acid crystals (= urate crystals) in the joint is very probable. These crystals destroy the actually smooth surface of the joint. Crystals are deposited when the uric acid content in the blood is too high, and a gout attack can occur.
