Your hips are one of the largest weight-bearing joints in your entire body. When these joints are working properly, you are able to walk, bend, turn, and even sit without experiencing any pain.
In order to keep these joints running smoothly, there is a complex network of cartilage, bones, tendons, muscles, and ligaments that must work together in perfect harmony.
Your hip joints are ball-and-socket type joints. The femoral head at the top of your thighbone is known as the ball.
It fits into a cup-like cavity in your pelvis, which is known as the socket. Ligaments, or bands of tissue, form a capsule that connects the ball to the socket and keeps them firmly in place.
Cartilage, which is a layer of smooth tissue, cushions the surface of those bones, which helps the ball to easily rotate within the socket.
Bursae, or fluid-filled sacs, cushion the area where the tendons and muscles glide across the bones.
In addition, the capsule that surrounds the joint is lined with synovium, which secretes a clear liquid that is referred to as the synovial fluid.
The synovial fluid is meant to lubricate your joints, which reduces friction and makes movement so much easier.
Injury, diseases, and other medical conditions can cause damage to your hip joints in several different ways, which can result in irritated bursae, worn cartilage, deteriorated bones, and even broken bones.
While it is true that the condition of fibromyalgia can result in hip pain, the most common cause of this type of pain is osteoarthritis or OA.
In addition, some of the other causes of grinding hip pain are osteonecrosis- or death of bone due to insufficient blood supply, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, bone tumors, injury, or infection.
Osteoarthritis and Hip Pain
As mentioned, the most common cause of grinding hip pain is OA, which is a degenerative disease of the joints that results in the breaking down of the cartilage located in the joints.
In your joints is cartilage, which is meant to protect the surface of your bones and cushion your joints.
When this begins to wear down or is damaged in some way, it results in your bones grinding together- which seriously hurts!
You notice this grinding hip pain no matter what you’re doing: sitting, lying down, or walking.
Some of the factors that can lead to the development as well as the progression of OA include obesity, family history of arthritis, aging, and joint injuries.
There is no cure for the condition of OA, but if you can get an early diagnosis and begin treatment, it can slow down the progression of the condition as well as prevent further damage to your joints.
Avascular Necrosis/Traumatic Arthritis and Hip Pain
In some cases, a serious hip fracture or another injury can lead to a condition that is known as avascular necrosis. In this condition, the blood supply to the femoral head of the bone is cut off- which results in the bone withering away. Therefore, the cartilage begins to deteriorate, which causes pain as well as other symptoms.
Rheumatoid Arthritis and Hip Pain
In the condition of rheumatoid arthritis or RA, the synovium, which is the lining of the joints, becomes inflamed- which causes chemicals to be released that thicken the synovium and cause damage to the bone and cartilage of the joint that is affected. The inflammation of the synovium results in swelling and pain.
Fractures and Hip Pain
There are several things that increase your chances of fracturing a hip, including your age, being a woman, and even certain diseases/disorders.
Once you reach the age of 50, the odds of experiencing a hip fracture increase significantly and double every 5-6 years after that. Around 90 percent of all hip fractures are caused by a fall.
Statistics say that a woman is 2-3 times more likely to experience a hip fracture than a man.
In addition, women who are 5’8” or taller are twice as likely to fracture their hips than women who are 5’2” and shorter.
Osteoporosis and Hip Pain
Believe it or not, the bones in your hip are living tissue. They are constantly being absorbed into your body and then replaced.
Once you reach a point where the bone is not being replaced as quickly as it is being absorbed, the mass/density of the bone begins to reduce- which leads to a condition that is known as osteoporosis, characterized by the porous bones.
As the condition of osteoporosis advances, the bones become progressively weaker, which increases the risk that it might fracture or even break.
The truth is, that as we age, our bones become weaker- this is especially true for women.
According to the statistics, over 200 million women across the world are affected by the condition of osteoporosis.
As mentioned earlier, falls contribute to around 90 percent of hip fractures- and with the condition of osteoporosis, you are much more likely to fracture or break a bone when you fall.
However, the good news is that conditions such as osteoporosis and arthritis are that they can be treated.
Sure, these are conditions that typically worsen as you get older, so it is common for treatments to involve several different approaches and to change and adapt over time.
For some individuals, simple changes in their lifestyles, medications, and even devices to help them walk help to alleviate the pain.
On the other hand, others will require surgery known as osteotomy to realign the bones and restore them to their normal functioning.
Finally, for some, hip replacement is the only solution to their grinding hip pain. You can work with your physician to determine the best line of treatment for you.
If your hip pain is due to your fibromyalgia, the best thing you can do is to get your signs and symptoms under control- whether through medical treatments or natural treatments.
As you know, the condition of fibromyalgia does not have a cure- but treatments do often help to get you back to nearly normal functioning.
Sources:
http://www.zimmer.com/patients-caregivers/article/hip/causes-of-hip-pain.html
https://www.ortho.wustl.edu/content/Patient-Care/3206/Services/Sports-Medicine/Overview/Hip/Hip-Impingement.aspx
