Bone density withers out with age. This happens due to natural aging of a human body and the processes it brings about, such as deterioration of regenerative capacity, abrupt loss of moisture in tissues, slowed down activity at cellular level, changes in endocrine system. All those changes will always lead to increased risk of fractures and other types of hip injuries.
What kind of hip injuries can occur?
Hip pointer
Usually develops as a result of a medium-force mechanical impact on a hip area. The impacted area can suffer bruising, soft tissue swelling and local morbidity. Strong impact can cause hemorrhage in a joint cavity, which will require a punction. Hip pointers and bruising do not cause osteo-traumatic degenerative changes, therefore, a person with a hip pointer does not require hospitalization. A treatment normally consists of dynamic monitoring by a doctor and pain relief medication.
Sprains of hip muscles and ligaments
This type of trauma usually develops along with bruising or another hip injury. It is often sustained by professional athlete during training, but sometimes can occur during routine activities. The first symptom that will signal about sprained hip muscles or ligaments will be acute pain, which often concentrates in one point and, as a result, restrains movements at one of mobility levels. At the same time, a limb’s capacity to withstand a certain amount of payload to its axis remains unaffected, and a limb’s support function remains intact. Treatment will be conservative, mostly focused on pain relief and immobilization.
Hip dislocation
This trauma occurs as a result of an abrupt, one-time mechanical impact, which strength exceeds resistance capacity of a joint. A dislocation occurs as a result of disturbance of two joint surfaces that become misaligned: a hip socket and a femoral head. Depending on what direction a femoral head shifts, there are different types of hip dislocations:
- upper rear: ileac, which is the most often occurring type;
- lower rear: ischiatic;
- upper frontal: suprapubic;
- lower frontal: obturator;
- central: fractures of a hip socket cause a femoral neck to sink into a small pelvic cavity.
!!! Treatment of a dislocation sustained long time ago can be only surgical.
Thigh bone fractures
Depending on whether skin was damaged or not, thigh bone fractures can be:
- Open
- Closed
Depending on a displacement type:
- Displacement-free
- With displacement
Femoral neck fracture
It is hard to find a more common hip injury than a femoral neck fracture. It is a textbook injury, typical for elderly people. Femoral neck fracture more often occurs in women because of a menopause causing decrease in the levels of estrogens that are responsible for bone density.
Types of a femoral neck fracture, depending on an injured area, can be:
- Subcapital–a fracture line is under a femoral neck
- Transcervical–a fracture line crosses a femoral neck
- Basicervical–a fracture line is at the bottom of a femoral neck
Treatment of femoral neck fractures
Methods of treatment differ for different age groups, but they all consider the ability of the bone to regenerate and heal the fracture without external intervention. If a patient has many concomitant pathologies, or a patient is confined to a bed, or overweight, or has oncological processes, then it reduces chances of the fracture to heal itself. For a femoral neck fracture to heal successfully, an early rehabilitation and medium physical activity are essential.
If a fracture is unbale to heal by itself, then Rudenko Clinic successfully applies a hip replacement method. Traumatologists working at Rudenko Clinic have many years of experience in this type of surgery.
The Rudenko Clinic is a medical centre with high level of trust. Every day we help people who turn to us with different types of traumas, and hip injuries are one of them. Quick work and professionalism are the cornerstones of any medical treatment with successful results. The Rudenko Clinic will always gladly take care of your health. We encourage you to call us by this number so that we could answer any additional questions that you might have: +38(067)8678727.