How to treat arthrosis of the hip joint: methods and means

Coxarthrosis is a disease that affects the patient's hip joint.The treatment is long term.Just a few decades ago, such a diagnosis was practically a death sentence for the patient, promising him: severe debilitating pain, a gradual decrease in mobility, early disability.

But thanks to modern and effective treatment methods, it became possible not only to stop the degenerative process, but also to completely cure coxarthrosis in the initial stages.

Understanding the causes of the disease has given impetus to the use of an integrated approach in therapy.Treatment of arthrosis of the hip joint can include both medications and physiotherapeutic methods.

What is hip arthritis

Osteoarthritis is a disease in which the normal structure of the cartilaginous tissue of the joints is disrupted.Unlike arthritis, the cause of the deformation is not infectious inflammation of the tissues, but a disorder in metabolic processes.

Deforming arthrosis of the hip joint, with rare exceptions, is observed in patients over 40 years of age.The development of the pathology occurs as follows:

• Metabolism is disrupted.Cartilage tissue has no blood vessels, so its nutrition is provided by adjacent muscle tissue.For various reasons, the synthesis of substances is interrupted.
• Due to insufficient nutrition, cartilage begins to lose elasticity.It thins out over time.Interosseous clearance is significantly reduced.Osteoarthritis of the hip joint, grade 3, is characterized by the fact that growths on the bone tissue rub against each other.The cartilaginous tissue is practically absent.

• The load on the bones and a decrease in the thickness of the cartilage contribute to the deformation of the bone tissue.

After the onset of degenerative changes, it may take years for the patient to develop the third stage of the disease, but under unfavorable circumstances and without taking precautions, pathological changes can occur much more quickly.

How does osteoarthritis manifest itself?

Symptoms of arthrosis of the hip joint and their nature depend on the degree of development of the disease.The most characteristic symptom is pain.It is because of pain that patients most often turn to a doctor for qualified help.In addition, the insidiousness of the disease is that in the initial stage of degenerative changes, pain, as a rule, does not cause great inconvenience, is short-lived and is often attributed to normal fatigue.

The delay leads to the fact that the best time to start treatment is missed, and treatment of grade 2 hip arthritis requires more time and effort.There are still chances of a positive prognosis, provided that the therapy is prescribed correctly.

Symptoms of the disease are:

1. Pain can occur in the hip area, groin, and in the joint itself.You should be careful if pain symptoms appear at rest.This indicates the need for an urgent visit to an arthrologist.
2. Rigidity of movements, lameness.It is observed after prolonged immobility of the leg, for example after sleep.
3. Over time, the diseased leg becomes shorter than the healthy one, atrophy of muscle tissue is observed, which can be felt during palpation.

Diagnosis of the disease cannot be made without modern diagnostic studies.Therefore, grade 1 hip osteoarthritis is diagnosed only by x-ray, CT and MRI.The image clearly shows changes and narrowing of the interosseous space.

Stages of hip arthritis

After diagnosing the pathology, the patient is assigned a code according to ICD 10. This is an international classification of diseases, which is revised every 10 years.

Thanks to the assigned code, not only statistical data is collected.The therapies that produced the most significant results can be selected.Thanks to international collaboration, the pharmacological treatment of hip arthritis has improved significantly over time.

In world practice, it is recognized that arthrosis of the hip joint has three stages or phases of development.Each of them has its own symptoms.Namely:

1. First phase.Painful sensations occur only against the background of excessive stress: running, exercise, exercise and so on.The pain is concentrated mainly in the joint area.The pain usually goes away on its own after some rest.At the same time, the mobility of the leg remains complete, the muscle strength is not limited.First degree arthrosis can only be diagnosed by x-ray or tomography.The image clearly shows slight deformations of the bone tissue that do not extend beyond the so-called labrum.The joint space is slightly narrowed, usually in irregular areas.
2. Second phase.Migrating pain is characteristic and begins to spread to the groin area and thigh.It can occur spontaneously during rest.Pain due to arthrosis of the hip joint in the second stage does not go away on its own and requires the patient to take anesthetics.The range of motion is impaired and atrophy of muscle tissue is observed.The image clearly shows bony growths and deformations of the femoral head.Perhaps the appearance of a cyst in the most loaded part of the thigh: the acetabulum.The diagnosis of arthrosis in the second stage is carried out quickly.Even with superficial examination, pathological changes are evident.X-rays or MRIs are ordered to see the extent of the deformity.
3. Third phase.The pain begins to become chronic.Osteoarthritis can be determined even without a thorough examination.The patient cannot move without a cane;there is a tilt of the pelvis, which leads to shortening of the leg.During the movement, the patient must tilt the body over the damaged joint.As a result, this leads to even greater degenerative changes.The image shows extensive bone deformation.The joint space is almost invisible.

Therapeutic treatment of deforming arthrosis of the hip joint is effective only in stages 1-2 of the disease.The third stage of the development of the pathology often leads to the need for surgical intervention.

How to treat arthrosis of the hip joint

Regardless of what is used, gymnastics for arthrosis of the hip joint or taking medications, all approaches are based on six basic principles.Namely:

• Relieves pain.
• Ensure normal nutrition of cartilage tissue and, if possible, restore it.
• Improves blood flow in the affected area.
• Reduce stress on the joint.
• Strengthen atrophied muscles.
• Restores joint mobility.

To achieve all six goals, you need to use complex therapy.So, for example, prescribing injections into a joint, but without taking care to reduce the load on it, you can cancel all the beneficial effects of chondroprotectors.It is not surprising that in world practice, 2 to 10 different approaches are usually used at the same time, depending on the patient's condition.

How to treat hip arthritis

An integrated approach to the treatment of the hip joint provides better results than the use of a single therapeutic agent - this is a fact recognized by the world's leading arthrologists.Therefore, the patient is often prescribed several types of treatment from the following at the same time:

• NSAIDs- Non-steroidal drugs to alleviate the inflammatory process are the "classics" of treatment.Medicines for arthrosis of the hip joint are necessarily prescribed in combination with non-steroidal drugs or contain them in their composition.NSAIDs are especially effective during exacerbations of the disease.Helps relieve pain and reduce swelling.The appointment allows you to perform physiotherapy exercises for arthrosis of the hip joint, move on to massage, gymnastics and other physiotherapeutic procedures.The disadvantage of NSAIDs is their negative effect on the gastric mucosa.Patients should understand that nonsteroidal drugs for the treatment of hip arthritis do not cure the disease, but simply eliminate the symptoms, making therapy possible.
• Chondroprotectors and hyaluronic acid.These drugs represent a new stage in the treatment of the hip joint, so they can be divided into a separate group.
  1. Chondroprotectors are prescribed as restorative therapy.With long-term use, chondroprotectors restore damaged cartilage tissue, but their effectiveness is limited to the initial stage of the disease.
  2. Hyaluronic acid creates a layer between the bones, reducing the load on the joint.Effective as reparative therapy.
• Muscle relaxants- they are vasodilators and allow you to relieve spasm of muscle tissue.Prescribed to reduce the load on the joint.Muscle relaxants can only be used as part of complex drug therapy.
• Pain-relieving ointment- despite the advertising that talks about ointments as a means of miraculously eliminating the disease, in reality they only eliminate the unpleasant symptoms of the disease.On the other hand, painkillers in the form of ointments increase the effectiveness of conservative treatment, allowing you to relieve swelling and alleviate the patient's condition.
• Intra-articular injections- designed to relieve pain, restore cartilage tissue, or provide protection from excessive pressure on a joint.The most commonly used are corticosteroids.They relieve pain, allowing the patient to begin treatment with physical therapy.The corticosteroid group also includes preparations based on hyaluronic acid.The effectiveness of intraarticular injections largely depends on the experience of the surgeon (according to statistics, 30% of doctors lose the joint capsule during manipulations).

Some drugs can harm the body.Self-medication is strictly prohibited!

A bandage on the hip joint will lighten the load on the joint and reduce the factor that is the main reason for the onset of tissue irritation leading to the inflammatory process.Therefore, along with drug therapy, fixation of the damaged area is often prescribed.

Non-traditional methods and physiotherapy

In addition to prescribing anti-inflammatory drugs, intra-articular injections and other drugs, the patient can undergo physiotherapy and take advantage of alternative therapeutic methods.

• Manual therapy- this procedure has a more gentle effect on damaged tissues than massage of the hip joint in case of arthrosis.Any aggressive impact on the damaged area can easily trigger the onset of the inflammatory process.In our area we are not yet used to manual therapy, but in the West it is very widespread and is one of the official methods of therapy.
• Therapeutic exercisewith deforming arthrosis - a large area where the patient can choose between traditional and non-traditional methods.For hip arthritis, Pilates, yoga, as well as water exercises and other methods to restore the function of atrophied muscles are popular.Physical education and moderate exercise, together with medications, have a beneficial effect and contribute to the patient's recovery.
• Traditional medicine- most arthrologists are against this method as an independent therapy.And their opinion has a basis.A large number of patients, having refused the help of traditional medicine, have earned themselves a disability.But under the supervision of the attending physician, effective treatment of arthrosis of the hip joint with folk remedies is quite possible.Most of the herbs and infusions used have an anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect.Some medicinal preparations have serious contraindications, so before taking them you should consult an arthrologist.It is recommended to use non-traditional folk methods for the treatment of arthrosis of the hip joint with caution.Some recipes not only do not contribute to improvement, but also lead to the opposite effect, causing accelerated destruction of cartilage.
• Homeopathy- helps normalize the synthesis of substances in the body.Homeopathy is especially effective for post-traumatic arthrosis, allowing you to cope with the main factor that led to the development of the disease.
• Apitherapy- treatment with bee stings is very effective, allowing you to combine the effects of acupuncture and drug therapy.It is not surprising that many warming and effective ointments contain processed bee venom.Often the use of apitherapy is more effective than hip blocking.The advisability of using apitherapy must be decided by the attending physician.
• Magnetotherapy- used as auxiliary treatment and prevention of diseases.The effect of the magnet increases blood flow in the tissues and helps restore metabolic processes.Removes salt deposits.
• Hirudotherapy- Leech treatment has been used for several centuries.It has been proven that the saliva of leeches, which enters the blood, contains a substance that helps to thin it.As a result, blood can also enter atrophied capillaries and vessels.
• Mud therapy- has a slight warming effect, helps to obtain essential nutrients.With correct use of mud therapy, the inflammatory process and pain syndrome are reduced.Prohibited for purulent arthrosis of the hip joint.Prescribed with caution in the presence of blood clots and vascular disease.
• Shilajit for osteoarthritis- used both in pure form and as part of tinctures and compresses.The beneficial substances contained in Mumiyo promote tissue regeneration.Mumiyo is particularly effective in the early stages of the disease.
• Self-massage- Sharp and aggressive snaps and pressure are eliminated.During the massage it is necessary to ensure the flow of blood and lymph.An experienced chiropractor or massage therapist will show you the types of movements and their direction.

Treatment of arthrosis of the hip joint at home with unconventional methods must be supplemented with proper nutrition.

Losing just 5 kg will reduce the probability of the onset of an inflammatory process by approximately 30%.

Osteoarthritis of the hip joint and pregnancy

Pregnancy with arthrosis of the hip joint is a double stress for the woman's body.It is forbidden to take most medications during pregnancy.At the very least, they must be taken with great care so as not to harm the baby.

If hip arthrosis during pregnancy is at an early stage, it is recommended to postpone drug treatment until after giving birth.

It is possible to give birth with osteoarthritis of the hip joint, but you need to understand all the risks associated with it.Complications after the birth of a child are not uncommon, and the deformation of the cartilage tissue occurs at an accelerated pace.

Even when planning a baby, it is necessary to undergo a comprehensive examination of the body.All medications, ointments and painkillers can only be taken on prescription from your doctor.

Consequences of arthrosis

In the later stages of the disease it becomes impossible to cure coxarthrosis in the usual way.Prompt surgery is required.The operation is a last resort and can be performed in several ways.

1. Joint replacement- completely restores all motor functions.The disadvantage of the solution is the limited period of use of the prosthesis.On average, after 15 years, a second operation will be necessary to replace it.
2. Laser therapy for operated arthrosiship joint - used in case of rejection of the articular part of the bone.Using laser therapy, the damaged surface is removed and replaced with an artificial insert.

All types of surgery are temporary, but without them the patient becomes disabled.

Early diagnosis of coxarthrosis and a properly prescribed course of restorative therapy is the only reliable way to combat the disease.Ignoring the symptoms leads to disability.