Hip Arthritis

What is hip arthritis?

When your hip ball & socket loses enough of the cartilage to make shock absorption a bit like a go-kart on a country road. Cartilage is similar to a shock-absorber so if you don’t have much left – your bone can cop the pressure = pain *cue the rude words*. It can make walking, standing and getting out of the car a total disaster. And hips have this habit of being fine-fine-fine-fine…TERRIBLE. They can feel like they fell off the cliff of can-do.

Why does hip arthritis happen?

The big 3 for hip arthritis are: 1/ Genetics: blame your parents if it helps but the way you’re built can be a huge influence on arthritis. 2/ Previous injury: if you’ve done a decent injury on that leg (think ankle/knee/hip) its more likely you’ll have more wear and tear on the hip joint. 3/ Age: it’s not the only thing but it is a big thing. ‘Chronological advancement’ is a risk factor for osteoarthritis. Other factors are excess weight, a heavy physical job and sometimes folks who have done a LOT of sport in a previous life.

What can you do about hip arthritis? Hip Physiotherapy in Newcastle.

Easy does it. Gently Gently. A little stretching and some basic strength work is a win. Avoid standing too long, walking too long and break dancing. Sitting in deep lounges/car seats can feel pretty ordinary so don’t go for the super soft lounge or the Maserati sports car. Sometimes hands on work with a physio can help reduce pain. Talk to your doc about anti-inflamms, they can work a treat with dodgy hip joints. Other life stuff can help too: get good sleep, reduce stress, lose weight and dance the Macarena (not so much this one).

How long will hip arthritis take?

It will probably be about managing your hip rather than ‘fixing’ it. It’s not always the case but if your X-ray is seriously dodgy, it may be more about how well you change the basics to help minimise pain and move better. You should start seeing some change in your muscles around 6-8 wks of physio and this usually means some improvement with how much you can do before your hip gets grumpy.