Facts You Need to Know About Hip Rheumatoid Arthritis

Hip joint pain is a very common problem nowadays. You might have heard stories about a number of people complaining about this medical condition called rheumatoid arthritis, which affects about 1.3 mi...

Hip joint pain is a very common problem nowadays. You might have heard stories about a number of people complaining about this medical condition called rheumatoid arthritis, which affects about 1.3 million of American and women, and is believed to be thrice the risk of developing the disease, according to a popular internet source. It is defined as a chronic disease that results in joint pain, stiffness and swelling. The disease process leads to severe, and at times rapid, deterioration of multiple joints, resulting in severe pain and loss of function.

Symptoms

The classic symptom of rheumatoid arthritis is hip joint pain. Stiffness and swelling in the hip joint are evident signs of rheumatoid arthritis. This often causes discomfort in the thigh, lower back and groin area. Loss of appetite, fever, loss of energy, anemia and nodules (lump tissues under the skin) may also arise. It may also potentially affect the other joints in the body, besides the hip joint.

Treatment

The cure for rheumatoid arthritis is not yet known. However, there are temporary ways to control the pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis.

·  Painkillers or anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen or aspirin, may help relieve the joint pains.

·  Corticosteroid (cortisone) are fast-acting “first-line drugs”, which reduces pain and inflammation.

·  Rheumatrex and Trexall are two of the slow-acting “second-line” drugs which promote disease remission and prevent progressive joint destruction.

·  Physiotherapy is an important part of therapy of debilitating arthritis. This helps maintain optimum joint flexibility and strength.

·  Supportive treatment includes exercise, joint protection, psychological support to help deal with the associated symptoms and disability.

·  Assistive devices, such as a cane, walker, long shoehorn etc. may help cope with disability associated with hip rheumatoid arthritis. 

Sometimes, for those who have severe hip joint inflammation, the only choice left is hip replacement surgery. Another word for hip replacement, arthroplasty is a surgical procedure in which the diseased parts of the hip joint are removed and replaced with new, artificial parts. These artificial parts are called the prosthesis. The goals of hip replacement surgery are to improve mobility by relieving pain and improve function of the hip joint. However, the FDA has placed one manufacturer of hip replacement devices, Stryker Corp, under scrutiny due to high product failure rates. There are also a number of upset users who filed lawsuits against the manufacturer. The Stryker hip recall at strykerhipreplacementrecall.net offer more information regarding this matter.