Don’t take your mobility for granted
Iremember my mother resigning from a position as a positive ageing ambassador because she could no longer find anything positive about ageing. Having just seen an orthopaedic surgeon about pain in my hip I can see why.
Having spent 30 years as a doctor and had some training to be an orthopaedic surgeon, I thought I had heard of most bony conditions. Apparently I have a thing called pincer hip, which I can blame my parents for. I have very deep hip sockets, (not to be confused with deep pockets) which makes me vulnerable to tear what is known in the hip as the labrum.
Now, in lay person’s terms this is like the o-ring that seals the fluid within the hip joint.
So when paddleboarding and falling off and hyperadducting my hip, I tore the o-ring, which leaked fluid and gave me pain worthy of a trip to the ED.
The beauty of modern medicine is the technology that can diagnose such a thing and give reasons for pain and a treatment plan.
It only seems a blink of an eye, but when I graduated 30 years ago we did not have the modern facilities of MRI scans, ultrasound, CT and endoscopes that can poke into dark recesses with a camera.
I shudder to think of the multiple fish bones stuck in a throat we sent home as ‘‘scratches’’ when we could not see the bone on an X-ray, or the facial fractures we sent home that can now be diagnosed on a CT. Also, the sprained knees a generation before that were actually a meniscal tear that were missed or removed as we didn’t appreciate how important the body’s fluid cushions were in joints.
The labrum in the hip and the menisci in the knee help cushion the load that the body places on the cartilage that lines the joint surfaces. Damage to these structures sets up a process where cartilage dies and bone rubs on bone, producing inflammation in the joint, widely known as arthritis.
There are many forms of joint inflammation, or arthritis. They result in joint pain, swelling, stiffness and even deformity. Osteoarthritis is known as wear and tear arthritis and is common in hips, knees, thumbs and the ends of our fingers.
Other inflammatory processes where uric acid crystals inflame the joint are known as gout, and where the body attacks its own joint lining is known as rheumatoid arthritis. In the emergency department, we often do X-rays and blood tests to find the cause of painful joints. Occasionally, we aspirate the joint to suck out fluid and see if it contains crystals or pus that may be caused by an infection, also known as septic arthritis.
It is a common theme in my articles that if you have inflamed joints (arthritis) it’s important to work out what is causing it, then fix the problem to avoid unnecessary wear and tear or damage that may result in a premature knee or hip replacement. In my case it’s a matter of doing a series of exercises to strengthen certain muscles and avoiding certain movements such as deep squats to prevent further damage or even surgery.
I enjoy my mobility and like many take it for granted. I am keen to walk the length of the country so need my hips – and the rest of my frame – in good