Hip Arthritis Explained - Dr. Philip Minotti

Video Transcript

The hip is actually a ball and socket joint. This is the top of the femur and it’s shaped like a ball. This is the socket and it’s shaped obviously like a socket. The ball fits in the socket and this is where the movement of your hip takes place. So, the hip can extend and flex and rotate. When a hip joint becomes arthritic, what happens is the cartilage on the bone wears out. If you’ve ever taken a chicken wing and broken it apart that very shiny white substance on the end of the bone is the cartilage. When that cartilage wears off, that is arthritis. So, normally in a normal hip this surface is coated with cartilage. When the cartilage breaks down and wears out you have bone rubbing on bone and that hurts. That’s called arthritis. In a hip replacement – what we do is replace the diseased bone and cartilage with artificial substances. For more information about diseases of the hip and their treatments please visit our website WWW dot CT dash ortho dot com. Thank you.