Hips & Thighs

Trochanteric Bursitis

Bursae are small, fluid-filled sacs that provide cushioning and lubrication between bones, tendons, and muscles near your joints. When a bursa becomes inflamed, this is called bursitis. It inhibits movement and causes pain in the afflicted area. Bursitis often affects the joints in your shoulders, elbows, or hips. But you can also have bursitis in your knee, heel, and the bottom of your big toe. Overuse, stress, and direct trauma to a joint are common causes of bursitis. It can also be a result of an infection, gout, or arthritis. Bursitis of the hip, or trochanteric bursitis, is frequently associated with a hip injury or arthritis. Pressure from standing or sitting for a long time is also a contributing factor.

Symptoms:

• Dull ache in the area around your hip (primarily over the greater trochanter, which is the portion of your thighbone, or femur, that protrudes where the joint meets the hip)
• Stiffness in the joint
• Increased pain with movement
• Tenderness
• Unlike bursitis in other areas of the body, there is no visible swelling or redness of the skin. This is because the bursae are located beneath some of the bulkiest muscles in the body.

Total Hip Replacement

This is a surgery performed to replace all or part of the hip joint with an artificial device (prosthesis). Physical therapy is a necessity after this procedure has been performed in order to regain flexibility and strength in the joint. The hip is a ball-and-socket joint: a meeting of the “ball” end of the thighbone (femur) with the cup-shaped “socket” of the pelvic bone. A total hip prosthesis is surgically implanted to replace the damaged bone in the hip joint.

Symptoms:

• Wearing down of the hip joint and pain because of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, avascular necrosis,
  injury, and bone tumors
• Pain that causes sleepless nights
• Difficulty walking up or down stairs
• Little or no relief from pain medications
• Difficulty standing from a seated position
• Having to stop activities you enjoy, such as walking, because you’re in too much pain