Hip Bone Pain

To understand some of the possible causes of hip bone pain it's important to understand how the hip bone is constructed. The thigh bone (femur) leads the to the pelvis and at the very end the bone is shaped like a ball. The pelvis has a recessed area (socket) that accommodates the ball on the femur. Hence, the term ball and socket joint. This ball and socket arrangement allows the joint a great deal of flexibility and is protected against dislocation by a combination of extremely strong ligaments and layers of muscle surrounding the joint.

Causes of hip bone pain

• The ball part of the femur is significantly narrower than the rest of the bone, which means that it is a point of failure. When you hear about people breaking a hip, it is typically this part of the bone that has broken. Obviously, a broken bone is a significant cause of pain.


• The ball of the joint is surrounded by layers of muscle that protect it. Unfortunately, this leads to a problem with blood supply. The ball has a single small artery that supplies it, if for some reason this actually becomes blocked the ball will start to decay.


• Gout, although this typically affects the toes and ankle joints it can also impact the hips.


• Infection, the bursa (membranes that surround the joint) can become infected (bursitis)


• Rheumatoid arthritis can also target the hips and specifically injure the joint.

Hip bone pain is commonly felt in other parts of the body. It can be felt down the legs above the knees or even in the groin. This can make it politically difficult to diagnose especially as the joint is located deep beneath the muscles surrounding the thigh and pelvis making it difficult to examine manually.

At the first sign of pain, there are a few things you can do to prevent the situation worsening. Stop doing the activity that causes the pain, use a cane or creatures to relieve the stress on the joint, and make sure to sleep in a firm bed in a position that does not cause you pain. Once the pain is decreased, you can start with some gentle exercising and stretching; start slowly, go easy on yourself and will listen to your body and pain messages it is sending you