Essay On Hip Joint

The hip is a true ball and socket joint and the arrangement gives the hip the large amount of motion needed for daily activities like walking, squatting and stair climbing. The bones that form the hips are the femur or far bone and pelvis. The top of the femur shape like a ball called femoral head that fits into a round socket on the side of the pelvis. This socket is named as acetabulum. The femoral head is attached to the rest of the femur by a short section of a bone called femoral neck. A large bone protruding out from the top of the femur which located next to the femoral neck is called the greater trochanter. Large and important muscles connect to greater trochanter.

Figure 1: Showing the anatomy of the hip joint

In the hip, Articular cartilage covers inner parts of the femur and socket portion of the acetabulum in the pelvis. The cartilage is especially thick in the upper and back part of the socket.

The joint capsule is formed by a group of strong ligaments that connect the top of the femur to the acetabulum. A joint capsule is a watertight sac that surrounds a joint. These ligaments of the joint capsule are the main source of stability for the hip. They hold the femoral head in place at acetabulum or socket. A small ligament, ligamentum teres, connects the tip of the femoral head in acetabulum. But it doesn’t play a role in controlling hip movement like the main hip ligaments.

Tendons are soft tissue structures that connect muscles to bones. Tendon band called iliotibial band runs alongside of the femur, from the hip to the knee. This provides a connect point for several of the hip muscles. A tight iliotibial band can cause hip and knee problems. A special type of ligament forms a unique structure inside the hip called the labrum. The labrum is completely attached to the edge of the acetabulum. Damage or injured labrum can cause pain and clicking in hip