What Is Hip Dislocation? How To Know If Your Hip Is Dislocated?
Your hip is probably one of the most important parts of the body if not the most. There is a very complex joint that is responsible for almost half the movements of your lower body. So, if the hip dislocates, then that is a medical emergency and you should consult an orthopedic surgeon ASAP. So, here is everything you need to know about hip dislocation.
What Is Hip Dislocation?
Before getting into what hip dislocation is, you need to understand how the place where the dislocation occurs works. The hip joint, also known as the ball and socket joint, is the joint in the hip. It is the connection of the femur with the acetabulum. The femur is lodged inside the socket or the acetabulum, and it is fixed there. The ball is the femur and the acetabulum is the socket or the cavity inside which the femur is connected.
So, hip dislocation is basically the disconnection of the femur from the acetabulum. When the impact of forces is too much on the joint that it dislocates from its original place, it is known as a hip dislocation.
This is obviously not ideal and it can be very painful in certain conditions. The first thing you will feel is pain and it will be too much, to the point where you won’t be able to walk even a couple of steps.
Dislocation can also cause deformity in the hip area and this can be a clear sign that your hip is dislocated.
Causes Of Hip Dislocation
Severe Trauma
Hip dislocation doesn’t just occur out of the blue or without any reason. There is only one thing that can cause hip dislocation and that is severe trauma to the hip. Now, trauma can be inflicted in many ways. It can be an accident. It can be a serious fall. It can be because of age and an accident combined and that is very dangerous.
Recent Hip Surgery
In some cases, if you have already had hip surgery, which is very extensive and requires proper bed rest and healing, then you are more at risk of developing hip issues, the main one being hip dislocation.
Babies
In some cases, babies are born with dislocated hips, a condition which is known as hip dysplasia. This is an innate condition and it usually requires immediate medical attention for you to relieve this kind of pain and prevent lifelong disabilities and other problems.
So, there are tons of causes for hip dislocation and they are connected to trauma, one way or the other. So, you want to ensure that you’re taking good care of your body and decreasing the impact on your hip as much as you can. If you don’t, then you will be at risk, which is not good at all.
Symptoms Of Hip Dislocation
Now that you know what hip dislocation is and how it can be caused, here are some of the most common and important signs that have a dislocated hip. Keeping these symptoms in check will help your hip surgeon or back pain doctor Woodbridge understand what you’re going through better.
Pain
The most obvious one will be pain in the hip and the lower region of your body. You won’t be able to do anything without feeling a sharp twinge of pain in your body and you won’t be able to relieve yourself from it because it just gets progressively worse as time goes on.
Physical Deformity Near The Hips
It’s a severe orthopedic injury so there might be a physical deformity near your hips or in the lower regions. Check your pelvic area, the thighs, and even the sides of your body. If there is a physical deformity present, then it is usually a clear sign of hip deformity and dislocation.
Locking Of The Leg
Another very common and telling symptom is the locking of your leg. When your hip is dislocated, your leg will also lock in a certain place. It will rotate either inward or outward and this is also what makes walking and doing normal things really hard.
You won’t be able to walk without feeling immense pain and you will just want to sit down and do nothing, which is really bad.
Out of Place Hip
Your hip will also look physically out of place. When you look at your body, especially your hip area, without any injuries or dislocation, you can tell that it is normal and not out of place. Well, when there is a dislocation, you will certainly feel a difference when you look at your body.
The hip will just look weird and contorted differently. This is when you need to go to a doctor immediately.
Difficulty In Movement
You will also have a hard time moving your leg, putting any weight on your leg, standing for too long and other things along the same line.
Treatment For Hip Dislocation
Before getting into the treatment of a dislocated hip, you have to figure out what the problem really is and for this, diagnosis is really important.
A CT scan or an X-ray can be enough to determine the hip dislocation and after a physical examination, the diagnosis will be clear as day.
As for treatment, there are a couple of options that you can go for depending on the severity of your condition.
Hip Reduction
The first thing that you can try is a hip reduction. It is basically the process of putting your hip joint back in place. This process is done to fit the dislocated ball and socket back into place. This procedure is also only doable when there are no other complications in the hip joint and you won’t have to deal with more issues that come with it.
o, it is mainly up to your doctor and your overall condition to decide whether a hip reduction procedure will be viable or not.
Hip Replacement Surgery
The second most common procedure that you can go for is hip replacement surgery. This is a highly invasive surgery. It involves you going under and then the procedure is performed. A hip replacement surgery is exactly what it sounds like. Your original ball and socket joint is replaced by prosthetics, so you can imagine how invasive this procedure may be.
After a hip replacement surgery, you need to take things really slowly so that you can heal properly. This is not some lighthearted procedure that you can just heal from. It takes months for people to rehabilitate and get back to doing the normal things they so easily did once before.
Other Surgical Procedures
There are also several other surgical procedures, other than hip replacement surgery, that are not only crucial but life-saving too. Hip dysplasia in children has to be treated because nerves and blood vessels can get compressed, and if the pressure isn’t alleviated, then things can take a turn for the worse. So, you want to take all of these things very seriously.
Relieving the pressure on the blood vessels and nerves caused by a dislocated hip is very important and lifesaving in a lot of cases.
Conclusion
Hip dislocation is a very serious medical condition and you need to see a hip replacement surgery surgeon Woodbridge right away for this, because if you keep delaying the appointment, then things might turn south and you don’t want that.