Hip Stress Fracture - Causes, Symptoms, Prevention, Treatment

Suffering from a hip stress fracture is one of the worst injuries you will likely experience during your lifetime, as it will really impact your overall ability to be mobile and carry out the activities you normally enjoy.

There are certain people who will be more at risk for this injury, such as those who are older, individuals who suffer from osteoporosis or other bone weakening conditions, and those who are participating in high impact, rigorous activities that place a lot of wear and tear on the hip joint itself.

If you know you are currently at a higher risk, it's important that you do start taking the necessary steps to prevent the injury from taking place, so that you won't have to go through the process of recovery.

Here are some of the important things and tips to know about a hip stress fracture.

Causes of a Hip Stress Fracture

The causes of hip fractures can vary from individual to individual. In those who are participating in high impact activity, it's often from landing in a certain position incorrectly, or the repetitive motions wearing down the tendons, ligaments, and connective tissue surrounding the hip bone.

In older individuals, the reason for the hip fracture is more commonly just that the bones are growing weaker, and this causes them to become much frailer.

Finally, in other cases, the cause of stress fractures of the hip is because of the individual being in an awkward position and then experiencing some form of twisting motion that caused the fracture to take place. This cause of such a fracture is far less common, and normally only seen in incidental accidents.

Signs and Symptoms of Stress Fractures of the Hip

The sign and symptoms of a hip stress fracture will commonly be a sharp pain in or within the hip bone itself, as well as limited range of motion while walking or running. Usually, an X-ray will be required in order to pinpoint that it is indeed a stress fracture; however, an MRI or bone scan can also be used as confirmation that this is the injury that has occurred.

Treatments for a Hips Stress Fracture

If you're looking for treatments for hip fractures, the doctor may recommend that you start up on some form of pain medications. While this can help relieve your physical pain symptoms, it's important to be wise about using such pain medications, because if it covers up the pain and allows you to do activity you shouldn't be doing, you may be doing yourself more harm than good in the long run.

In addition to that, there's a good chance that you will be put on crutches to walk while the hip bones heal themselves and get stronger again. Surgery is often needed if the hips fracture is quite severe, and in some cases, you could be looking at having to have an entire hip replacement.

Preventing Stress Fracture of the Hips

To prevent a hip fracture, it's important that you're always warming up properly before exercises you are performing, and also only increase the intensity by a small amount each week. When people do 'too much too soon', that's one reason why they often start suffering from this problem.

Instead, increase your intensity or duration of activity by only 10% each week, maximum, which allows the body a better accommodation time period.

Also, be sure you're adding enough calcium to your daily diet, since this will go a long way towards helping promote strong bones and reduce your risk of stress fractures of the hips.

Conclusion

So keep these points about stress fractures of the hip in mind. Learning what causes them, how to treat them, and what you can do to prevent them are essential to avoiding this injury.

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