Hip arthrosis is medically called coxarthrosis. It can be either primary or secondary. In the first case, the disease occurs independently, without any reason. This form of arthrosis is very rare, most often in older people.
Secondary coxarthrosis occurs against the background of any disease of an inflammatory or infectious nature, as well as constant stress on the joints. This may include:
In isolated cases, coxarthrosis occurs against the background of acute respiratory viral infections, influenza, tonsillitis and other similar viral diseases.
Deforming arthrosis can be unilateral or bilateral. In most cases, it is accompanied by a disease such as gonarthrosis (degenerative-deforming processes in the knee joint), which further aggravates the situation. Gonarthrosis most often occurs unilaterally. That is, if coxarthrosis of the left hip joint develops, then gonarthrosis occurs in the left knee joint.
[adrotate banner=»4″]Deforming arthrosis of the first degree practically does not manifest itself at all. The only thing a person may notice is the appearance of mild pain in the hip joint, which most often occurs in the morning or after prolonged physical activity. It is also possible for a crunch to appear in the joints, but they also do not have a pronounced character. As a rule, many people simply do not pay attention to such symptoms and attribute their occurrence to fatigue or physical exhaustion.
However, it is precisely at the first stage of development of the disease that it is possible to prevent its progression and stop destructive processes in the joints. At the same time, treatment of arthrosis of the first degree can be carried out at home, using alternative medicine.
Coxarthrosis of the second degree has more pronounced symptoms. The pain becomes stronger and occurs with every sudden movement. In the morning, stiffness of movements is observed, the crunching in the joints becomes much stronger. Treatment of arthrosis of the second degree at home with folk remedies is still possible, but it must be accompanied by the use of medications prescribed by the doctor. Otherwise, it will be difficult to achieve positive results.
With the development of grade 3 arthrosis of the hip joint, severe depletion of the synovial bursa occurs and bone tissue grows around it. The symptoms are pronounced. Pain in the joint is observed constantly. The crunch can be heard from a distance. Stiffness of movements and changes in gait appear, which is accompanied by lameness. Treatment of grade 3 coxarthrosis at home is not possible. In this case, urgent surgical intervention is required .
Hip arthrosis of the 4th degree is characterized by the complete disappearance of the joint and the onset of disability. There is no motor function. The pain is severe and does not go away even after using painkillers. Here, as in the previous case, only surgical treatment will help correct the situation.
If gonarthrosis is added to coxarthrosis, all the above-described symptoms are also observed in the area of the knee joint.
At first there is minor pain, which occurs only after exposure to certain factors (for example, when the weather changes or after physical activity). But as the disease progresses, the pain syndrome intensifies. Gonarthrosis is also accompanied by swelling of the soft tissues, their redness and increased temperature (determined by touch). On palpation, gonarthrosis manifests itself as severe pain.
This disease also has 4 degrees of development. In the initial stages, gonarthrosis can be treated at home using the same folk remedies as coxarthrosis. But if the disease progresses significantly, you should immediately seek help from a doctor and undergo a full course of treatment with medications, physiotherapeutic procedures and exercise therapy.
How to treat coxarthrosis and gonarthrosis at home? To do this, you should use various compresses, tinctures for rubbing sore joints, ointments and decoctions for oral administration. Treatment for these diseases should continue for several weeks after the main symptoms disappear. At the same time, folk remedies should be used even after completing a course of treatment as a prevention of relapse.
Remember, it is impossible to completely cure coxarthrosis and gonarthrosis. Treatment of these diseases at home is used to eliminate pain. Surgery is required for complete recovery. However, it does not provide a 100% guarantee that coxarthrosis and gonarthrosis will not reappear after several months or years.
With the first and second degrees of development of arthrosis of the hip joint, you can use a regular chicken egg to eliminate pain. At home it can be used in different ways:
Treatment of coxarthrosis with folk remedies involves the use of a compress based on medical bile. The following components will be required:
All ingredients must be taken in equal quantities. They should be mixed in a glass jar and put in a dark place for 10-14 days, after which the product can be used for medicinal purposes. It needs to be heated (it is best to use a water bath for this) and soak a gauze cloth with it. It must be applied to the sore joint, and the thigh should be wrapped with cling film and a woolen scarf on top. Keep the compress all night. Do this until the main symptoms of the disease disappear.
Folk remedies based on cinquefoil are highly effective in the treatment of arthrosis of the hip or knee joint. But before you carry out treatment at home, you need to prepare a tincture. To do this you will need:
These ingredients should be mixed in a glass container, tightly closed with a lid and placed in a dark place for 2-3 weeks. After this, the tincture must be strained and boiled water added to it to the original volume.
To eliminate the main symptoms of the disease, this tincture should be taken both internally and externally. Take 1 tbsp of tincture orally. 3 times a day. This must be done before eating. And at night, cinquefoil tincture is simply rubbed into the sore joint until completely absorbed. There is no need to put parchment paper or plastic on top.
To enhance the effect, treatment of arthrosis should be carried out with internal use. The following composition can be used:
These ingredients should be passed through a meat grinder (the garlic must first be peeled), transferred to a 3-liter jar and filled to the top with boiling water. After which the jar needs to be wrapped in a blanket and placed in a warm place for 7-8 hours. As soon as the product is thoroughly infused, it should be placed in the refrigerator. For the treatment of hip arthrosis, this medicine is taken at ? glasses every day on an empty stomach.
Important! Remember that arthrosis is a disease that can lead to disability.
Therefore, you should not let it take its course. If traditional medicine does not give a positive result, it is better to immediately seek help from a doctor.
Treatment of arthrosis of the hip joint is carried out in different ways. However, this does not mean that a person can self-medicate, because everything can end in adverse consequences. Therapy for arthrosis of the hip joint is selected depending on the degree of damage.
At the first and second stages of disease progression, treatment is more gentle, and when the patient’s condition worsens, there is a need for surgical intervention, which involves endoprosthetics. During the operation, the bone of the hip joint is replaced with an artificial one.
Endoprosthetics is a technically complex surgical treatment. After all, part of the prosthesis must be implanted into the patient’s pelvis, and the other into the thigh. Thanks to modern technologies, the quality and shape of an artificial joint analogue duplicates the properties of human bone.
As a rule, arthrosis of the hip joint develops after 35 years. The disease can affect one or two joints at once. The main manifestation of the disease is pain in the groin, radiating down the lateral and anterior surfaces of the thigh. But sometimes at the first stage of arthrosis, discomfort is localized in the buttock area.
Pain occurs during walking and during vertical movement of the body, for example, when a person tries to get out of bed. At the second stage of the disease, the mobility of the lower limb is limited, and a cracking sound is heard in the joint.
At the third stage, a shortening of the leg may occur, or, conversely, its lengthening. All this often leads to lameness, atrophy of the thigh muscles and the appearance of acute pain symptoms.
To overcome pathology at the initial stage of development, conservative drug treatment is mainly used. For this purpose, the doctor prescribes a variety of medications (ointments, tablets, injections). These drugs belong to the following groups:
At the beginning of the development of the disease, drug treatment of arthrosis of the hip joint includes drugs such as
These painkillers not only relieve pain, but also relieve swelling and inflammation.
However, with prolonged exposure, these drugs have an adverse effect on the cartilage tissue of the hip joint, and side effects after taking them can lead to damage to internal organs.
Therefore, if long-term treatment of arthrosis is necessary, use Movalis. It should be remembered that in this case it is impossible to use complex therapy using various medications.
Vasodilators include Cinnarizine, Teonicol, Trental, etc. These medications widen the lumens in blood vessels and help relax smooth muscles.
The advantage of vasodilator medications is that they have almost no side effects and restore cartilage and bone tissue by eliminating spasms and improving blood supply to the joints. But the effectiveness of treatment for arthrosis depends on the patient’s individual intolerance to the drug.
Despite the fact that antispasmodic medications improve blood circulation and relax the muscular system, they should be used very carefully. The disadvantage of using them is that they can affect the human nervous system.
In some cases, symptoms of brain fog, inhibition of consciousness and dizziness were recorded.
Most often, the doctor prescribes the following medications to help restore cartilage:
Drugs belonging to this group are used to treat deforming forms of arthrosis of the hip joint. Medicines provide cartilage tissue with useful components, thereby improving their structure.
Systematic use of these drugs can stop the progression of arthrosis. In addition, such drugs have almost no contraindications, however, they are not advisable to use in cases of individual intolerance, pregnancy and joint inflammation.
Steroid hormones are a group of medications that are injected into the hip joint. The injection form is very convenient to use. Drug treatment with steroids often involves the administration of drugs such as Kenalog, Metypred and Hydrocortisone.
These drugs can be used in the presence of concomitant diseases, such as inflammation of the hip tendons. But they also have disadvantages, consisting of many side effects and contraindications.
When using steroid hormones, you should remember that injections cannot be given in one thigh more than 3 times, and the break between each injection should be at least two weeks.
The next group of medications used to treat arthrosis of the hip joint includes lotions, compresses and ointments.
Pain-relieving ointments activate blood circulation and relieve muscle spasms. However, ointments and compresses have little effect on the healing process.
In addition to taking medications, the doctor often recommends fighting the disease with non-drug methods:
Physiotherapeutic treatment of arthrosis of the hip joint includes:
Thanks to physiotherapy, you can relieve spasms and improve blood supply to the joints. The effectiveness of such treatment depends on the individual characteristics of the patients. These therapeutic methods should be used in combination with medications (painkillers, injections).
Massage therapy brings good results in the presence of deforming arthrosis. With its help you can remove swelling, spasms, strengthen muscles and get rid of pain. In addition, massage improves blood supply to the joints and relieves tension.
This procedure can be performed independently using various devices and methods, for example, a jet of water. Massage therapy is a harmless and effective treatment that does not cause any complications.
Joint stretching is another effective way to combat arthrosis. The procedure is carried out using a traction apparatus or manually. It allows you to separate the connected bones and dramatically reduce the load on the joints.
But this method has its drawbacks: extension cannot be done outward or sideways, as this will destroy the bone, and extension can only be done vertically. The advantages of this method are the ease of spreading the joints.
It is worth noting that in the process of using the manual method, such therapy does not have the above-described disadvantages. Traction is performed by a doctor who accurately calculates the load, taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient, his body weight and muscle tone. Disadvantages of the procedure:
Diet therapy for arthrosis should be prescribed by the attending physician. It is necessary to reduce the patient’s body weight, thereby reducing the load on the hip bones, but the diet does not have much effect on the development of the disease itself.
The disease arthrosis refers to a progressive and chronic disease, which, without appropriate examination and treatment, ends in joint immobility. A change in cartilage tissue with subsequent destruction and deformation of the bone is called arthrosis of the hip joint. Symptoms initially manifest themselves mildly, in the form of slight discomfort when moving or doing physical work.
The further stage intensifies the pain, which appears not only in the hip area, but also moves to the gluteal side and radiates to the knee. Most often, women and men over the age of 40 are affected, but there are cases of joint damage in young people.
There are many causes of the disease, but arthrosis always progresses the same way . The onset of the disease is a change in cartilage tissue, which, after a decrease in thickness, ceases to cushion bone tissue. To compensate for the destroyed cartilage, the body begins to accumulate bone growths along the edges of the joints. This deformation leads to unbearable pain. The causes of arthrosis are determined as follows:
The causes of the development of the disease and its course determine two degrees of arthrosis of the joint:
Since arthrosis develops gradually, the characteristic signs increase from almost imperceptible manifestations to severe pain that does not allow movement:
Symptoms at this level are characterized by the fact that the pain occurs only after stress on the joint , for example, sports training, walking or running long distances. The pain is felt specifically in the joint, it does not radiate to the hip or knee. At this stage there is no muscle atrophy, the gait is normal, without lameness. X-ray photographs show growths along the edges of the acetabulum, other deformations are not visible.
The first degree of the disease is initial. With timely detection and diagnosis, treatment is prescribed that will stop the process of deformation and destruction of cartilage and bones and allow the patient to lead a full life. But some patients do not pay due attention to minor pains and refuse to visit a doctor, but since the disease is classified as chronic, the disease develops and progresses.
Symptoms at this stage become more pronounced, the joint hurts constantly and more severely, now even small movements bring discomfort, pain radiates to the hip, groin, and knees. If you have to make long treks or run, the person begins to limp. The same manifestations are observed in the case of abduction to the side of the hip, the amplitude of movement becomes smaller.
On X-ray examination, a narrowing of the size of the joint space to half the normal value is observed. The growths at the edges become more massive, the femoral head itself increases in size, and deformation and upward displacement are clearly visible. The edges of the head have characteristic irregularities and protrusions. The muscles on the side of the affected hip joint begin to dry out. You need to urgently consult a doctor for examination and treatment.
The pain becomes protracted and constant, bothering the patient even at rest, at night during sleep. To relieve pain attacks, a person takes painkillers. A person cannot move independently; he has to do this with the help of a cane or crutches. The range of motion of the joint is sharply limited , atrophy and shrinkage of the thigh muscles occurs.
Due to the shortening of the leg, the patient leans towards the affected joint when walking, thereby loading the joint even more. The X-ray shows a lot of bone growth, a narrowed joint space and an uneven, significantly enlarged head. Often the gap disappears completely, the bones rub against each other when moving, causing severe pain. Sometimes walking is completely impossible, as the joint becomes immobile. Only surgical treatment for joint replacement is used.
This type of arthrosis is called coxarthrosis and represents a severe degree of osteoarthrosis. This diagnosis is made in about 40% of patients who apply for a disease of the musculoskeletal system. Women over 40 years of age are most often affected, but the male population also requires treatment for this disease.
Coxarthrosis begins its destructive effect after disruption of blood circulation in the internal organs. Harmful substances accumulate in the human body and lead to gradual deformation and destruction of the pelvic organs. The causes of coxarthrosis include physical and mechanical effects on the joint. Excess weight, old age, and increased workload provoke the development of the disease.
Deforming arthrosis is often accompanied by severe pain and limited range of motion. For treatment in the initial stage, the patient must contact a medical facility. He will be examined and scheduled for joint replacement surgery.
Diagnostics allows us to identify the degree of development of the disease, its etiology and choose a method of treatment. If there is a serious suspicion of a deforming degree, the patient is sent for a blood test to detect an increase in erythrocyte sedimentation rate, immunoglobulins and globulins, which are characteristic of this type of disease. The next type of examination is an x-ray, which shows:
With the help of x-rays it is not always clear how the joint capsule and cartilage behave; to choose a treatment method, the patient is referred for a tomography study. In addition, an MRI study is used, which provides the most complete picture of soft tissue deformation and bone destruction. Great importance is paid to the clinical symptoms of hip arthrosis.
To choose treatment, the doctor tries to establish not only whether there is pathology or not, but also the degree of damage, as well as the reasons that caused it. If a change is observed in the proximal region of the femur, then such deformation occurs after Perthes disease . An increase in the diaphyseal angle at the neck and a flat acetabulum indicate developed dysplasia of the femur and pelvic bones. If the disease is caused by previous injuries, this can also be seen on x-rays.
The method of treatment directly depends on the stage of deformation and the condition of the hip joint. During the treatment process the following goals must be achieved:
Modern treatment provides for an integrated approach that provides not only drug therapy, but also a change in the patient’s lifestyle in order to eliminate the risk of developing recurrent joint dysfunction.
The first and second degrees allow treatment without the intervention of a surgeon. Only a specialist in this field can confidently select appropriate ways to overcome the disease for each individual. They use vasodilators, hormonal and steroid drugs, muscle relaxants, chondroprotectors and various ointments, rubs, lotions, and compresses. Some of them are effective only in the form of injections into the affected area of the joint .
Manual therapy and massage, special gymnastics, and conservative medications are widely used. To reduce pain discomfort, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used, which only remove pain, but do not stop the deformation of cartilage tissue. These drugs, when used for a long time, have a number of side effects, for example, they change the synthesis of proteoglycans, disrupt the water balance in cartilage, which negatively affects the condition of the hip joint. They are used only for severe pain.
The drugs in this series include: art-oxia, Celebrex, nimudid, nalgesin, ketanov, artosilene, ibuprofen, nurofen, diclofenac, voltaren and others. Local warming agents are used for treatment; they do not have a pronounced therapeutic effect, but distract and relieve muscle spasms. Names of drugs: menovazin, espol, gevkamen, niflex - cream.
Chondroprotectors are designed to improve the condition of cartilage and improve their nutrition. Treatment with drugs is effective only in the initial stages. Among the common medications, chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine are often used in treatment. To improve blood supply and reduce vasospasm, drugs to dilate blood vessels are used: xanthinol, stugeron, trental, vasonite retard, pentaxiphylline. Relaxation of muscle tissue occurs after treatment with tizalud, tolperisone, and mydocalm.
Injections into the hip joint have proven themselves to be quite effective in treatment . But such procedures should be performed by a specialist with extensive experience; getting into the right area is quite difficult. Commonly used drugs include methylpred, hydrocortisone, and kenologu. These drugs actively relieve pain and inflammation, but have a depressing effect on the body’s immunity, so they are prescribed in short courses.
Intra-articular injections with chondroprotectors are more acceptable: alflutop, chondrolone, they are prescribed 2-3 courses per year. In addition, hyaluronic acid is injected into the joint, which acts as a lubricant.
Physical therapy is used as an additional treatment for surrounding tissues and to increase their tone; exercises are selected by specialists. To strengthen the surrounding muscles, the patient is prescribed massage, manual therapy, and hip traction.
This stage of the disease requires only surgery , which involves replacing the worn-out hip joint with an endoprosthesis. Two parts of this structure are implanted into the pelvic and femur bones. The operation takes quite a long time and after it a recovery period of rehabilitation is required. A bipolar prosthesis is used, which is installed simultaneously instead of the socket and head, and a unipolar prosthesis, which changes only the femoral head.
If all postoperative recommendations are carefully followed, recovery occurs and the patient can lead a full life. Such operations are performed quite often under general anesthesia.
After surgical treatment, patients develop complications:
Infection most often occurs in the area of the prosthesis. The complication requires removal of the endoprosthesis and the administration of a subsequent course of antibiotics. Thrombolism involves blockage of the pulmonary artery. In some patients who are predisposed to thrombosis, this complication can be fatal. To prevent the formation of a blood clot, patients after surgery are given medications that reduce blood viscosity.
severe bleeding occurs during surgery , but modern clinics involved in such complex operations always have a supply of blood or substitutes, so this complication is quickly eliminated.
After surgery, during the rehabilitation period and during drug treatment, preference is given to the following products:
You need to build your life in such a way that arthrosis of the hip joint does not develop. Therefore, young and elderly people need to lead an active lifestyle , exercise moderately, try to spend more time on the move; replacing public transport with walking will have an effective impact on the functioning of the joints. Sedentary work in the office needs to be compensated by jogging and exercises in the morning.
Constant additional stress is dangerous for the hip joints ; therefore, you should monitor your weight and avoid obesity. You need to eat rationally so as not to gain extra pounds, but at the same time not deprive your body of nutrients.
Arthrosis of the hip joint (coxarthrosis) is a chronic, gradually progressive disease, which, in the absence of timely and correct treatment, can result in a complete loss of movement in it. The ending -oz indicates that it is not the inflammatory process that predominates, but the degenerative process.
Symptoms of this disease vary depending on the stage. At the very beginning, it is a barely noticeable discomfort that occurs when walking and exercising. Perhaps it manifests itself in the form of mild pain in the hip area, which goes away with rest. In this case, pain can be felt not only in the thigh, but also in the groin area or in the knee.
As a rule, coxarthrosis is a process that lasts for many years, characterized by a gradual change in cartilage, followed by bone deformation and loss of joint functionality. It mainly affects people over 40 years of age, but there are also very young patients.
Why does arthrosis of the hip joint occur, and what is it? The causes of coxarthrosis may be different, but the picture of the disease is always the same. It all starts with a change in the articular cartilage, which becomes thinner and loses its ability to absorb loads. The body compensates for the delamination of cartilage tissue by the formation of bone growths along the edges of the articular surfaces, which leads to deformation of the joints and bones of varying degrees.
The main causes of this joint disease:
Depending on the cause of the disease and its pathogenesis, there are 2 main types of arthrosis of the hip joint.
At the initial stage of coxarthrosis, patients are only bothered by minor pain or discomfort in the joint area. Often such signs are ignored, resulting in the disease progressing.
Coxarthrosis of the hip joint, the symptoms of which cannot be ignored, can lead to serious consequences. There are several main signs of the disease, which depend on the stage of the disease:
The main symptom of coxarthrosis is pain, the nature of which, its duration, location and intensity depend on the stage of the disease.
This stage of the disease is characterized by pain in the joint and hip, sometimes in the knee, which occurs after physical activity and subsides after rest. Joint mobility is not limited and there are no gait disturbances.
Coxarthrosis of the 1st degree is the initial stage of the disease, by starting treatment of which it is still possible to stop the process of destruction and deformation of the joint and maintain its full functions. But, unfortunately, many do not consider it necessary to see a doctor because of mild pain in the joint, while the disease progresses.
It manifests itself more clearly - the intensity of the pain increases, it occurs not only after exercise, but also at rest, and limitation of motor functions appears. In particular, coxarthrosis is characterized by difficulty in performing pronation (inward rotation of the hip) and abduction, and a contracture is formed.
During an X-ray examination, we see a narrowing of the joint space and the appearance of bone growths on the surfaces. The acetabulum and head of the femur are deformed. The thigh muscles on the affected side begin to atrophy, and the pain syndrome spreads lower, affecting both the knee joint and the groin area (it is important to understand that this will not be accompanied by dystrophic changes in the knee joint).
Signs of the disease are pronounced and permanent. The pain syndrome occurs at night. When walking, the patient uses support. The muscles of the lower leg and thigh gradually atrophy, and the affected leg of the sick person becomes much shorter.
Often, by grade 3, the joint space completely disappears, and the joints fuse into a single bone structure, this is demonstrated by the picture. As a result, complete immobility of the joint occurs.
Radiographs reveal extensive bone growths on the side of the roof of the acetabulum and the head of the femur, and a sharp narrowing of the joint space. The neck of the femur is significantly expanded and shortened.
Before figuring out how to treat arthrosis of the hip joint, it is necessary to make a correct diagnosis. If coxarthrosis is suspected, a person will be referred for a biochemical blood test - if the disease is present, patients will experience a slight increase in ESR, globulins, immunoglobulins and seromucoid.
The next stage in identifying arthrosis is an x-ray photo. It will reveal:
Unfortunately, the X-ray photo does not allow one to see the joint capsule and the cartilage themselves; if it is necessary to obtain information about these soft tissues, the patient will be referred for tomography.
If arthrosis of the hip joint is diagnosed, treatment will directly depend on the stage at which the disease is located. The general treatment regimen involves achieving the following goals:
All this can be achieved only with the help of an integrated approach, which should include not only drug therapy, but also lifestyle changes in order to get rid of risk factors for coxarthrosis.
All listed drugs are prescribed exclusively by the attending physician. Some are effective as injections directly into the affected joint area. Such injections should only be given by qualified medical personnel. Therefore, self-medication is strictly not recommended.
In addition to the use of medications, doctors also recommend non-drug methods to combat the disease. These include the following methods of treating this disease:
Physiotherapy used for arthrosis includes the following types of treatment:
All these methods can only be used to improve blood supply to joints and relieve spasms.
Combined treatment of hip arthrosis involves prescribing the following groups of medications:
There is no need to rely heavily on folk remedies. But some healers recommend tincture of lemon, garlic or celery root to treat joints and bones.
For deforming arthrosis of the hip joint, massage treatment gives good results. Massage for coxarthrosis is a very effective and useful method. It is advisable that the massage be performed by a good specialist and as often as possible.
Its action is aimed at improving blood circulation, strengthening muscles, relieving painful spasms, swelling and muscle tension, as well as increasing diastasis between the articulating elements of the joint.
If you don’t have a professional massage therapist, you can do the massage yourself. Massage for arthrosis can be performed either manually or with the help of various massage devices and even a stream of water (hydrokinesitherapy).
Treatment of arthrosis of the hip joint with physical exercise is to achieve two goals: increase the mobility of the legs and prevent muscle atrophy. All standard exercise therapy complexes for coxarthrosis also have a general strengthening character and a positive effect on the entire body.
A specialist prescribes a set of gymnastic exercises. The first couple of physical therapy sessions should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor. He will show you how to perform each movement correctly and will also ensure proper stress on your hip joints.
The diet will reduce the load on the hip joints and provide them with everything necessary for tissue restoration.
Treatment methods for arthrosis of the hip joint (coxarthrosis) generally depend on the degree of damage to the joint. Accordingly, with stage 1 disease, treatment will be simpler and quite conservative. Whereas, grade 3 arthrosis of the hip joint involves replacing the joint itself with an artificial prosthesis.
For stage 1 coxarthrosis, NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and various analgesics are often used. Such drugs in their composition are aimed at reducing pain and relieving inflammation in the periarticular cartilaginous tissues. However, they do not have a characteristically pronounced therapeutic effect.
Analgesics very often mislead the patient precisely because the pain subsides after taking them, and accordingly, they mistakenly believe that the disease does too. This is wrong. Since analgesics and NSAIDs are not able to regenerate the affected joint.
It should be remembered that these drugs have many side effects. They adversely affect the cardiovascular system, the gastrointestinal tract, and can cause liver and kidney failure. Therefore, taking analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is not recommended for a long course of use. All painkillers must be prescribed by your doctor.
Chondroprotector drugs, which contain the substances chondroitin and glucosamine, are aimed specifically at the regeneration of damaged articular cartilage tissue. Such drugs are used mainly for stage 2 arthrosis of the hip joint. Since grade 2 is characterized by already pronounced osteophytes (growths on the articular cavity) and a decrease in the joint space.
These substances act by filling the articular surfaces with nutrients, which improve the metabolism in the joints and help normalize the production of synovial fluid. Synovial fluid, in turn, fills the cavity of the damaged joint, as if lubricating its surface, and thereby helps the joint work better.
Preparations based on chondroprotectors must be taken in long courses from six months to a year, with a break between courses. This is the only way to achieve the desired effect in treatment.
Drugs in this group are prescribed to relieve spasm of the periarticular muscles. It is important to understand that by relieving the spasm, but without removing the pressure on the damaged joint, muscle relaxants will not bring any benefit. It is necessary to use a cane to reduce the load on the hip joint.
Ointments and creams perfectly help relieve muscle spasms when used in combination during massage. Also, ointments have a warming effect and this therapeutic method helps to establish metabolism in the muscle tissues around the joints. But you shouldn’t expect a big therapeutic result, since our skin is able to pass through no more than 30% of vitamin substances in this way.
Learn more about the treatment of coxarthrosis in the video
Drug treatment will not bring the desired result if physical therapy (physical therapy) is not used in combination with it. You should not start therapeutic exercises if you do not perform all the exercises constantly, as required. It is strictly forbidden to perform exercises “sometimes”.
Let us give an example of a course of daily physical therapy exercises, which is used in combination with the main treatment.
Lying on your back, your torso is relaxed, your legs are extended forward, your arms are along your torso. As you inhale and exhale, raise and lower your arms. 5-10 times.
Lying on your back, bend and straighten your knees. Do not lift your feet off the floor. 5-10 times.
Lying on your back, turn your legs straight to the middle. We return them to their original position. 5-10 times.
Lying on your back, we do a “bicycle”, making circular movements with our legs as when riding. Picking up the pace, we do the exercise for 10-15 seconds. Slow down the pace for 10-15 seconds.
Lying on your back, we spread our legs to the sides (we try not to lift our heels off the ground) and return them to their original position. Repeat 10 times.
While lying on your stomach, place your hands on your hips and try to raise your head and shoulders, moving them back. We hold this position for a couple of seconds and return to the starting position.
Lying on your healthy side, place your head on your outstretched arm (you can bend it at the elbow). Gently lift the leg (with the sore joint) and move it to the side. We also carefully return it to its original position. Rest for 5 seconds and repeat. Perform the exercise at least 5 times.
In a standing position, we lean on the back of the chair with our hands. We swing our legs smoothly from side to side. Repeat 10 times.
In a standing position, we rest our hands on the back of the chair. We perform squats (preferably halfway) and hold this position for 5 seconds. We return to the starting position. We repeat the exercise 10 times.
In a standing position, we rise on our tiptoes and return to the starting position. Repeat 10-15 times.
This course of therapeutic exercises was developed according to the method of S.M. Bubnovsky. It is also suitable for the complex treatment of dysplastic coxarthrosis. Dysplastic coxarthrosis is a congenital dislocation of the hip joint.
Bubnovsky not only created a unique method of complex physical therapy, but also developed special gymnastics equipment for the treatment of arthrosis of the hip joint.
More details about Bubnovsky’s technique in the video
Surgical treatment is used mainly for stage 3 coxarthrosis. There is obvious destruction of the joints. The pain becomes intense and pronounced.
Also, at grade 3, it is possible to develop bilateral arthrosis of the hip joint, when both the left and right joints of the femur are affected simultaneously.
Treatment of grade 3 coxarthrosis is surgical intervention. Joint replacement surgery is called endoprosthetics. This operation is quite complex and has many contraindications to its implementation.
Modern medicine does not stand still. High-quality artificial joint materials and extensive experience in performing operations to install them in place of the affected joint have given many patients a chance for a full life.