Hip Osteoarthritis Treatment Options

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There are several forms of arthritis that affect the joint of hip but by far the most common is OA (osteoarthritis). It is also familiar called as degenerative joint disease. This occurs when the cartilage that acts as bearing in the joint is damaged. Currently, there is no cure for OA of hip. However, it is treatable and some treatment options are available for coping.

Understanding osteoarthritis of hip in general

Each joint in the body has cartilage to cushion the ends of bones and help the joint move smoothly with almost no friction. In other words, the cartilage acts as a bearing in the joint, as noted before.

This cartilage can wear away. It is more likely to occur as the age. That’s why OA is much more common in elderly people (older than 40s). However, it may occur at young ages due to certain accident /injury (such as injury in sport activity).

image_illustration209In general, hip osteoarthritis is not an emergency, unless it causes symptoms or discomforts that can interfere with daily routines. However, early diagnosis can help improve the prognosis of the problem.

Typically, the symptoms include joint paint that tends to worse with standing, twisting, walking, or other weight-bearing activities. They can be felt in the groin, buttock, or thigh – and even feet, depending on the severity.

The way of the symptoms develops can vary. Sometime, they can be chronic that may develop gradually over time. But they also can strike suddenly – people who have a sudden flare-up are more likely to seek help.

How does it affect your life?

It can affect your mobility and independence. Depending on the severity, it can cause difficulty in walking, using vehicle, or climbing stairs – all of these things can interrupt the way of how you enjoy your day-to-day activities.

Even your athletic performance can decrease significantly. But this doesn’t mean your body doesn’t require exercise. Instead, regular exercise can be an essential part of the treatment plan for osteoarthritis. However, not all kinds of exercises are safe (especially for extreme and high impact exercises – see more in this section).

Many sufferers find that chronic pain associated with joint disease does contribute in causing fatigue. But this disease doesn’t affect the metabolism.

The fatigue is also more likely to occur due to lack of physical activity. Yap, the disease can put you at greater risk of becoming a sedentary individual and this is bad for your overall health and weight control.

Does the disease affect fertility or your chance of getting pregnant?

The effect is usually a consequence of difficulty in intercourse. The affected hip can lead to uncomfortable intercourse in some patients. But in general, it doesn’t affect the level of your fertility for pregnancy.

Another major concern is about problems of social relationships. While stress can make the disease worse – the symptoms and other complications (particular poor in mobility) can add more stress and cause poor in social interactions. On the other hand, it’s so essential for patients to get adequate emotional support!

Can you die from hip osteoarthritis?

It is not contagious condition and most people with it die due to other diseases – not from their hips osteoarthritis. It usually also doesn’t predispose to other health conditions. However, it can be a serious condition.

Currently, it still has no cure. But some treatment options can help treat and control it, and improve the symptoms. So again, though it is incurable but it is treatable condition.

The treatment options

As mentioned before, typically it develops gradually over time as the age.

Though there is still no cure for hip osteoarthritis, but it most certainly is treatable with some treatment options such as medications (non-surgical options), lifestyle approaches, and surgical options.

Does hip osteoarthritis always require surgery? It depends on the severity. If the problem doesn’t respond to other treatments, surgery would be a reasonable next step to consider! Even doctors may also recommend total hip replacement surgery in severe condition.

Self-management

This can be so essential to help control the disease. Self-management approaches for hip osteoarthritis include:

  1. Stress management! If you are able to control your stress as well, this can help ease the symptoms and great for your overall health. Many studies have shown that stress is linked to be a trigger or worsening many health conditions, including for hip osteoarthritis.
  2. Losing weight, if you are obese /overweight. More pounds you gain will put more stress on the joints of your hips.
  3. Avoid any activities that can aggravate the symptoms!

Diet changes

Currently, no specific diet is confirmed for arthritis. However, there are common foods considered bad for this joint disease – see more in this article.

It’s not clear yet whether there is a specific nutrient that can help treat osteoarthritis of hip. But your doctor may recommend taking supplements containing glucosamine and chondroitin – though the results of studies that analyze these ingredients for arthritis are inconsistent.

So far, the only one confirmed evidence of the benefit from diet for arthritis is to help control weight. Overweight and obesity can be bad for the prognosis and outlook of the disease.

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