Hip Pain...How To Deal With Hip Pain.
How I personally dealt with Hip Pain.
It is true to say that as we enter our mid-years, the 50s and 60s, our bodies have taken quite a bit of punishment. In this article I shall home in on Hips. In later articles I shall write about other problems.
My 22 years spent in the Royal Marines were entirely physical, 30 mile marches, parachute training, mountain climbing and so on. Little did I know that all this" impact" activity was building up a load of trouble for me.
I am telling you this as a warning; you must be aware that if you are into any kind of sport such as running, jogging, basketball, or any other activity that involves jarring your body you are storing up a load of problems which will not manifest themselves until later years.
It is the Hip Joints and knees that take the brunt of this impact activity and because they do they are the first to break down. Having said this, impact sports are not solely responsibly for the wear and tear of the joints. Genetics, malnutrition, illness and obesity all play their part in causing joint problems.
The first symptom I experienced was a pain in my groin, (this was some 10 years before I was subjected to surgery) this lead in time to my having difficulty in picking things up from the floor. It never occurred at this stage that my hips were becoming arthritic Then my knees began to cause problems so I strapped them up, went for physiotherapy, rubbed in anti-inflammatory gel, all to no avail. I leant later that there was nothing wrong with my knees, I was suffering from what is known as referred pain. After my Hips operation my knees were fine
Out of interest I swotted up on all things relating to osteoarthritis. This is interesting; the bodies of young people below the age of 30 have the ability to regenerate cartilage. It is beyond this age that the cartilage, or "cushion" protecting the hip and knee joints, begin to wear out. But this is also interesting;these protective" cushions" are some 20 times more slippery than ice but as wear and tear sets in the lubrication diminishes and the cartilage gets thinner. So much so in my case that the ball and socket joints in my hips were working bone on bone, very unpleasant.
Whilst osteoarthritis is considered a disease of the elderly, as I think I said before, the onset can take place in the mid 50s. So if you even suspect that something is amiss, a stiffness, an ache in the groin,the onset of pain that causes you to limp or drag your leg, make an appointment to see your doctor who will hopefully send you for an xray.
The operation to replace an arthritic joint is fairly routine. An epidural to start things off and then the discarding of the ball joint to be replaces with a plastic or stainless steel unit.
The Hip ball and socket joint has the greatest range of movement of all the weight-bearing joints it is important, therefore, to strengthen the thigh muscles after the operation principally to hold the new appendage in place. Physio is the order of the day and do not
cross your legs. Profession will be from a walking frame, to crutches, to a walking stick, to jiving.
Non-impact exercises such as yoga, cycling, swimming and palates are all very good. I walk four maybe five miles two or three times a week.
At the risk of putting a damper on things I read an article in the national press recently, written by a Swiss doctor, that taking Glucosamine and
Chondroitin have no effect whatever on damaged cartilage.
Tip of the day:
Pour boiling water over a handful of basil leaves. The eugenal oil in the plant appears to block the effects of an enzine called cyclo-oxygenase which triggers inflammation and pain.
Yours healthfully,
Terence Speake
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