Beginning Symptoms of Hip Arthritis
- Hip arthritis, or hip osteoarthritis, is a slow, progressive disorder that erodes and destroys the articular cartilage lining the hip joint. As the cartilage slowly erodes, the hip joint loses its natural flexibility and ease of movement. Hip stiffness is often times the earliest symptom of a hip with the beginning stages of arthritis. Normally more pronounced in the morning or after a long period of inactivity, hip stiffness will often times be the only sign of a hip with radiographic evidence of hip arthritis, especially in the early stages, before extensive cartilage and hip joint damage occurs. Hip stiffness usually abates after a short period of hip movement or mild exercise.
- In the early stages of hip arthritis, hip pain experienced after strenuous physical activity, especially high-impact activities such as jogging, running or extended walking, is often times the only observable symptom. It is very common for a hip afflicted with beginning arthritis to flare up, or become painful, when overused or overtaxed, only to become pain-free after a short period of rest. In contrast to hips with more extensive arthritis, hips that often times ache and hurt even after long periods of rest, hips afflicted with mild arthritis that become painful during exercise respond quickly and positively to short periods of inactivity and rest. Along with hip stiffness, exercise-related hip pain is one of the earliest symptoms of a hip with the beginning stages of arthritis.
- It is common for an arthritic hip, even one with a mild form of arthritis, to exhibit muscular weakness. As the protective cartilage layer covering the hip joint begins to wear away, small changes begin to occur within the hip joint capsule and in the surrounding soft tissues. Inflammation and spasm of the soft tissues about the hip joint translate into reduced hip and leg muscle function, a condition that results in a slight loss of muscular strength and action, both in the muscles around the hip joint and even in the muscles of the lower leg. This type of inflammation commonly causes nerve-root impingement of nerves surrounding the hip joint, which causes further hip and leg muscle weakness.
- Hip flexion, which is measured by how far the knee can be brought up toward the chest, is often one of the earliest movements of the hip to be affected by the early stages of hip arthritis. This lack of hip flexion, which is often noticed when an individual experiences a bit of trouble putting socks on, is caused by the irritation of the hip joint lining caused by the eroding hip joint cartilage. As the cartilage surrounding the hip socket erodes, the ball of the hip joint, or femoral head, loses its natural ability to rotate and flex smoothly and effortlessly, which can cause, among other things, a loss of hip flexion.
- Hip internal rotation, which is the ability of the hip joint to rotate inward, toward the groin, is normally significantly reduced in a hip afflicted with arthritis. It is common for hips with severe degrees of arthritis to have no internal rotation whatsoever. In hips with the beginning stages of arthritis, hip internal rotation is normally restricted but not totally lost. As is the case with the loss of hip flexion in an arthritic hip, the loss of hip internal rotation is caused primarily by the cartilage degradation around the femoral head, a degradation that restricts the ability of the hip ball to rotate fully. In addition, bone spurs, which often times form around an arthritic hip joint, further reduce hip joint motion, including that of hip internal rotation, and can be signs of advancing hip joint arthritis.