The hip is made up of a large socket within the pelvic bone (the acetabulum) and the thigh bone (femur) which is the longest bone in the entire body. The area is pivotal in daily movements such as walking and running and it bears a great deal of human weight. As a result, the hip can undertake a lot of pain in an individual's life, which can arise from a great number of causes.

One of the possible causes of hip pain may arise from some sort of trauma, such as a fall or a car accident. In this case the pain may be caused by damage to the actual bone, disruption of the cartilage or inflammation of the tissues surrounding the joint. If the pain is caused by damage then the hip may need to be operated on to reduce pain. Otherwise, it is usually simply a matter of time before the hip heals itself, while physiotherapy, painkillers and anti inflammatory drugs may help hip pain in the meantime. For younger people hip trauma is usually the result of an accident or commonly the result of a sporting injury. Landing awkwardly on a triple jump, running with pressure on one leg more that the other or even just pushing yourself too hard, too soon can cause the tissues to inflame or the cartilage to get worn away. Treatments for this kind of hip pain are usually symptomatic, I.e. they treat the pain while the injury is left to repair itself. As a person gets older and their bone density falls or their bone structure weakens they become more susceptible to hip trauma from things like falling or bumping themselves on an object. This often can't be helped but to avoid poor bone health at a younger age it's essential for infants and children to have a lot of calcium in their diet.

Another very common cause of hip pain is arthritis. There are many different types of arthritis that can result in hip pain, for example osteoarthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. These are progressive conditions that will get worse, but when caught early their progression can be slowed considerably and in some cases hip pain may be avoided altogether. Other conditions and diseases which can cause hip pain include Crohn's disease, sickle cell syndrome, fibromyalgia and Lyme disease amongst others.

Bruises, strains and even breaks are all very common causes of hip pain and as they can usually be attributed to one event or trauma they are usually no cause for concern. With degenerative and progressive conditions such as arthritis however, the patient must be careful to follow a treatment plan and avoid any activities that make their hip pain feel any worse. If you are experiencing hip pain then it is important that you visit your doctor to find out what could be causing it. Chances are it is just a bruise or fracture, but it's always best to be certain that it isn't indicative of an underlying condition.

Stan Tian

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