The appearance of pain in the thigh is a reason for an early visit to the doctor. The sooner the cause of the discomfort is identified and treatment is prescribed, the more likely it is that you will completely get rid of the pain.
The largest joint in the body is the hip. It receives the largest and longest daily load. Its main function is to provide a person with movement and maintain their balance. Pain in the hip joint complicates life, brings a lot of discomfort and problems.
It is necessary to urgently consult a doctor for help if unpleasant symptoms appear. They can be caused by various diseases. In the first place among the provocateurs of pain are injuries of the limbs.
Less obvious factors that cause pain in the hip joint include the development of pathological processes. The main pathological causes of pain are the presence of:
- arthritis;
- osteoarthritis;
- infectious arthritis;
- inflammatory processes in tendons;
- coxarthrosis, etc.
If treatment is not started promptly, all these diseases lead to complications, degenerative processes in the joint. These changes mainly include:
- damage to the cartilage surface;
- damage to structures located near the joint;
- decrease in the amount of fluid in the joint.
There are often no obvious causes of hip pain and the pain does not go away and gets worse every day. These are signs that an already developed disease is present. To find out what disease has developed, you need to see a doctor, but if this is not possible, you can first determine the symptoms and, accordingly, the pathology itself and the methods to get rid of it.
Joint injury
The most obvious causes of hip pain are injuries. The most common fracture is the neck of the femur. This is the most common because the neck is the thinnest part of the thigh. If the pain is caused by a fracture, then you should be very careful because this condition is very dangerous. Older people are more likely to get this injury.
Hip pain caused by a fracture should only be treated under medical supervision. In advanced cases, resort to prosthetic or endoprosthetic methods.
Arthritis
This disease mostly affects the elderly. With age, the development of degenerative, dystrophic and inflammatory processes in the joints is often observed. This disease will cause pain in the thigh and groin area, pain on the side of the thigh, up to the knee, may occur at night. Leaning on a leg with an inflamed joint, the patient feels an increase in pain, and when he gets up from a sitting position, the leg seems to pierce.
The pathology is common in elderly people. During this period of life, many people can face all the degenerative, dystrophic and inflammatory processes of the joints. One of the first to undergo changes is the hip joint.
The main symptoms of arthritis are:
- soreness of the limb;
- pain in the inguinal region, radiating into the leg, reaching the knee region;
- increased walking symptoms;
- shooting when standing up from a sitting position.
What to do if the first signs of arthritis appear? In case of severe pain, fever, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be taken. With their help, you can remove or remove the symptoms of the inflammatory process. Children are prescribed children's forms of drugs.
It is also necessary to rest the sick leg by placing it comfortably. It is strictly forbidden to do developmental exercises. Treatment at the beginning of the development of the disease is conservative. Prosthetic or endoprosthetic surgery is performed in advanced cases.
Coxarthrosis
Coxarthrosis (deforming arthrosis) is a common pathology. The disease occurs mostly in people over 40 years of age. In the case of coxarthrosis, the first symptoms can be seen at the beginning of its development. Pain sensations appear in both one and both joints, developing gradually. Coxarthrosis is divided into primary (disease of unknown origin) and secondary, the causes of which are the consequences:
- congenital luxations of the hip joint;
- necrosis and tissue destruction of the femoral head;
- malformed hip joint;
- Perthes disease;
- injury;
- inflammation.
In primary coxarthrosis, the spine and knee joint can be additionally affected. Changes in the fluid that should lubricate the joint lead to the development of this disease. This causes the surface of the cartilage to dry out, resulting in roughness and cracking. There is a thinning of the cartilage during friction, the bones are under great pressure, which provokes their deformation in coxarthrosis.
The joint starts to hurt slightly, but with the development of the pathology, the discomfort begins to manifest itself with increasing intensity. In the second stage of the development of the disease, severe pain appears with:
- every time you get up from a sitting position;
- upper body movements;
- the beginning of the walk;
- in walking itself.
The pain radiates to the groin and knees. There is constant muscle tone in the affected area. This explains the appearance of pain at night.
Over time, blood circulation is impaired, which leads to a slowdown in metabolism. This leads to gradual muscle atrophy. Symptoms of coxarthrosis at stages 2 and 3:
- pain in the hip joint, groin area, knee;
- restricted movements;
- the appearance of lameness;
- the length of the leg with the affected joint decreases;
- atrophy of the thigh muscles.
With coxarthrosis, the pain can appear even at night. The treatment must be prescribed by a doctor after a complete examination. The sooner the patient seeks help, the better and faster the results will be. They also resort to methods of prosthetics and endoprosthetics.
When pain occurs when walking caused by arthrosis, then drug treatment is possible only at stages 1 and 2 of development. Stage 3 requires surgery. You should not wait for complete healing (except for arthroplasty). But it is possible to relieve discomfort and pain and stop the development of arthrosis. Drug treatment is carried out:
- pain relievers;
- anti-inflammatory;
- compresses with dimexide;
- physiotherapy.
But this treatment is not enough, complex therapy is needed. So the doctor can prescribe massage, diet, gymnastics, taking chondroprotectors.
Tendinitis and bursitis of the trochanteric bursa
The trochanteric bursa is located above the prominence of the femur. Inflammation of this part of the musculoskeletal system provokes pain in the hip joint and buttocks. If you lie on the side affected by the fluid, the pain will increase. The inflammatory process can also develop in the iliac or gluteal pouches, but this happens much less often. The development of the disease can begin after prosthetics and arthroplasty of the joint.
Tendinitis is an inflammatory process in the tendons. The risk of this pathology is in people who are subjected to regular stress. In general, this pathology occurs in athletes.
Inflammation of the tendons causes pain in the joints during active movements or walking. In a calm state and light loads, there may be no discomfort.
What to do when pain when walking is caused by bursitis or tendinitis should be determined by an orthopedist or traumatologist. To save the patient from these pathologies, the specialist prescribes therapy aimed at relieving inflammation. The affected limb should be given complete rest. Punctures are prescribed to eliminate pain. During the procedure, fluid is pumped out of the bag and antibiotics are injected into it.
In advanced cases, surgical intervention is necessary.
To relieve pain, if chronic pelvic pain syndrome or mild forms of the disease are observed, treatment with alternative methods will help. Keep a few kalanchoe leaves in the refrigerator for a day, then squeeze the juice from them. Make a compress out of it, which you need to change 6 times during the first few days, after which you can apply it only at night.
Chronic pelvic pain syndrome from bursitis is relieved by compresses made from fresh leaves of cabbage or burdock. These sheets should be applied with the inside of a place previously smeared with oil or cream. After that, it is necessary to wrap the compress with polyethylene, wrap it with a towel. If such treatment is carried out daily, then the inflammation will subside after 1 to 2 months.
infections
Infectious arthritis is caused by influenza viruses, streptococci, staphylococci and other pathogens. If the pain is caused by an infectious disease, then the development of other symptoms will not take long. Soreness and swelling in the area of the affected joint will not do. A fever may develop, and the pain will torment not only when walking, but also at the slightest movement. Even light touches will bring suffering.
Tuberculous arthritis, which most often affects the hip joint, causes slightly different symptoms:
- The pain first appears when walking. It is not strong, it extends to the knee or mid-thigh area.
- Hip movements are then limited.
- There is swelling in the area of the affected bone.
Heredity
Chronic pelvic pain syndrome is inherited. This is Perthes disease, which occurs more often in boys, but is much more severe in girls. The disease affects one side of the hip joint, sometimes knee pain may occur.
The cause of the development of the disease is myelodysplasia (underdeveloped lumbar spinal cord). The pathology may not bother you throughout your life. But severe disorders provoke various orthopedic pathologies. Perthes disease can cause such reasons:
- inflammation of the joint;
- injury;
- increased load on the joints.
Symptoms of the disease:
- lameness;
- sharp pain without cause in the knee joint;
- hip pain;
- change in gait;
- rise in temperature;
- blood test shows inflammation.
Treatment should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor and according to his recommendations. Patients with Perthes disease are prescribed long-term complex therapy.
Tumors
An articular bone tumor will cause hip pain. Their nature depends on the location and quality of education in the tissues.
The causes of pain in the joint extending to the leg may lie in the defeat of the joint itself. This includes neoplasms in the muscles or bones. The intensity and area of pain are different. This is due to the nature of the tumors (benign or malignant) and their location.
When joint pain occurs, it is imperative to seek medical help, regardless of the reason that caused this symptom. After all, any joint disease in the initial stage can be cured in a conservative way, without resorting to surgery. But home treatment of the tumor process is unacceptable.