Causes of Hip Pain
July 6, 2008 by rainier
One of the most common causes of chronic hip pain is arthritis. The most common types of arthritis are:
* Osteoarthritis (OA) — sometimes called degenerative arthritis because it is a “wearing out” involving the breakdown of cartilage in the joints. When cartilage wears away, the bones rub against each other, causing pain and stiffness. This usually occurs in people aged 50 years and older, and frequently in individuals with a family history of osteoarthritis.
* Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) — produces chemical changes in the synovium that cause it to become thickened and inflamed. In turn, the synovial fluid destroys cartilage. The end result is cartilage loss, pain, and stiffness. This affects women about 3 times more often than men, and may affect other organs of the body.
* Post-traumatic Arthritis — may develop after an injury to the joint in which the bone and cartilage do not heal properly. The joint is no longer smooth, and these irregularities lead to more wear on the joint surfaces.
Other causes of joint pain include avascular necrosis, which can result when bone is deprived of its normal blood supply (for example, after organ transplantation or long-term cortisone treatment), and deformity or direct injury to the joint.
