Giving your hips more consideration could delay arthritic changes that could lead to hip pain later in life. Board-certified orthopaedic surgeon Kevin Park, MD, offers specialized hip surgery in Houston, Texas, and is keen to help you look after their hips better.
Here, we look at how your hips work, what you might be doing to hasten their decline, and how to take better care of them.
Your hips consist of two bones that fit together in your pelvis. One is the ball-shaped bone (femoral head) at the top of your thigh bone (femur). The other is the acetabulum, a hollow that forms part of your pelvis.
The femoral head fits securely inside the acetabulum, held in place by a ring of cartilage (labrum). The bones have a slippery coating of articular cartilage that stops them from creating friction when they move. This is just as well because hips rarely get much of a break.
Whatever you are doing, you put pressure on your hips. For example, when you sit, your knees no longer take your weight, but your hips do. And most people sleep on their side, putting pressure on one or the other hip all night.
It’s unsurprising, then, that around 450,000 Americans have total hip replacements every year, especially when you think about the other ways you put excessive strain on your hips.
Here are the most significant and widespread burdens we put on our hips:
In addition to its role in everything from heart disease to cancer, excess body weight is a leading cause of joint wear.
It hastens the development of osteoarthritis, the No. 1 destroyer of joints, when the articular cartilage wears away and the bones become rough and pitted. The more overweight you are, the worse the effects and the sooner you’ll develop chronic hip pain.
Excess weight could also be a problem for people who must repeatedly lift heavy loads in their work or home life — for example, carrying boxes of tools or equipment or loading and unloading delivery vehicles.
Slumping on the couch for hours on end tightens the flexor tendons in your hips and weakens the buttock muscles that support them. Extended sitting at a work desk can also be bad for your hips.
If your hip is hurting, you may be tempted to work through the discomfort and hope it goes away. But pain indicates there’s something wrong, so get the problem checked out.
Dr. Park can complete a thorough evaluation to determine what’s causing your pain and how to treat it. If you push through hip pain, you could be worsening the damage and making it much harder to fix.
You might think that not exercising would help your hips by limiting wear-and-tear, but that’s not necessarily true. You might strain the joints excessively with years of running or horseback riding, but most exercise improves hip health.
Exercise strengthens and stretches the muscles and connective tissues around the joint and stops your hips from stiffening. But don’t rush into new forms of exercise, push yourself beyond your fitness levels, or do any activities without an appropriate warmup.
It’s amazing how much your shoes can affect your body, from causing back pain and headaches to joint misalignment. If your shoes are worn, don’t fit properly, or don’t offer much support, it affects your ankles, knees, and hips, putting unnecessary strain on the joints.
Here are our tips for minimizing the risk of hip damage:
We hope these tips help reduce hip damage so you won’t need joint replacement surgery. But if you struggle with hip pain, call us at our Houston, Texas, office, or arrange a consultation using the online booking feature.
