Arthritis of the hip joint is a common condition. It usually affects middle-age and older people resulting in over 40,000 hip replacements being performed in Australia per year to relieve sufferers of their pain. It comes about when the cartilage which overlies the femur (leg) bone or lines the acetabulum (pelvic) bone wears out and exposes “bone on bone” articulation resulting in pain, stiffness and disability.

Many forms of arthritis have been described. Osteoarthritis is the most common form characterized by the break-down of the joint’s cartilage. The exact cause of osteoarthritis is unknown but it may occur in families (genetic predisposition), post-injury or as a result of an infection in the joint.

The next most common form of arthritis is known as rheumatoid arthritis. This is a chronic inflammatory disease of the joint and soft tissues often resulting in the rapid onset of pain, swelling and stiffness with marked joint destruction. Rheumatoid arthritis is more common in women and is caused by the body’s own immune system attacking the joints, often affecting the small joints of the body first i.e. those of the hands and fingers before involving the larger lower limb joints.

Other forms of arthritis are less common and broadly categorized into the term “inflammatory arthritis” including such conditions as ankylosing spondylitis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), gout and juvenile arthritis.