Hip Replacements Continued

Now let’s turn to the ligaments of the hip joint as the wind around the neck of the femur resembling a twisted towel. The ligaments unwind as we flex the joint and tighten as we extend. Back bends are limited by these powerful muscles. And in full extension the ligaments also inhibit lateral rotation which subsequently keeps the hip joint from popping out. Although we have these very powerful ligaments in place for the stability of the joint, it has a remarkable range of motion due the ball and joint architecture and the slick articular capsule and synovial fluid acting as a lubricant. When you look at the anatomy it is absolutely fascinating to see all the directional flows of the muscles, which are necessary to balance and provided stability and the necessary control which is imperative for all the upper body movements as well as the necessary precision of the joint itself.

If you look closely at the muscular arrangement around the joint there are muscle groups which have a fan like appearance. Each group performs a particular function of either flexion,abduction, rotation, etc. So, let’s return to the question of why so many hips going south these days. Well, those series of fan like muscles and ligaments are working together to create both mobility and stability, therefor any imbalances in any of these attachments can create abnormal function. Imagine a ball joint on an automobile that is out of whack (balance) eventually your mechanic gives you the unfortunate news of the necessity of a replacement for proper front end alignment, without which your entire front end will ot steer properly. Which would then cause shocks tires, tie rods etc. to malfunction. Well, its a wee bit easier to replace that then hips these days. Although, I should retract that last statement. I have a client that had his hip done recently and the operation took and hour and a half and he was walking a mile in a week. Three cheers for the body carpenters! Replacing the ball joint in my Benz took longer than that! I regress, forgive me.

There are approximately 20 muscles involved in hip function, so needless to say its important to implement a great stretching program to keep the ball and joint functioning smoothly. So, if you are interested in keeping the hip joint you were born with…I highly recommend to implement an aggressive stretching program.