Hip pain can cause distress and prevent you from enjoying your everyday life. 

Osteoarthritis is the leading cause of hip pain. This is when wear and tear cause the cartilage between your joints to break down. It is the cartilage that protects the bones in the joints and without it, it will cause pain.

The condition is more common the older you are, and if you are a woman. Other factors can increase your risk such as previous joint infections, breaks or other damage.

The symptoms of Osteoarthritis in your hips are:

• Pain when moving, during your sleep or in colder conditions
• Inflammation around the hip
• Cartilage damage
• Boney growths or spurs on your hip joints (Osteophytes)
• A popping, cracking or clicking in the joint (Crepitus)

Inflammatory arthritis such as Rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis can also cause hip pain. 

As they are inflammatory in nature they can cause severe pain which can come and go in waves. The severity of rheumatoid arthritis varies from mild to severe. Over time, if left untreated, chronic inflammation can damage healthy bones and cartilage in your affected joints.

Other causes of hip pain may be caused by problems with the tissue surrounding the hip often as a result of a sports injury. There are:

• Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome (GTPS) where the tissue around the hip joint is injured
• Inflamed bursa, the fluid filled sac that cushions the bones in your hip joint
• Cartilage tissue damage
• Inguinal hernia, where part of your intestine pushes through your abdominal muscles.

Children can also be affected by hip pain. There are most commonly:

• Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is a condition where the “ball and socket” joint of the hip does not properly form in babies and young children.
• Perthes’ disease where there isn’t enough blood supply going to the hip joint, which causes the bone to weaken.
• Slipped capital femoral epiphysis where the ball of the joint situated at the top of the thigh bone slips or shifts downwards.
• Infection of the hip joint

If you would like to book a consultation with Mr Makrides, please get in touch.