Treatment solutions consisting of injections physical therapy and joint implant surgery are commonplace. The cause or etiology is due to a long-standing biomechanical destabilization of the joint resulting in abnormal wear and tear resulting in degenerative arthritic erosion of the femoral head. Since the hip joint functions and all three body planes, it is affected by all these planes as the joint becomes unstable.
Frontal Plane
The most common deforming force on the hip joint is due to a unilateral leg shortage. This condition not only adds more impact forces at the hip joint but also can cause compensating spinal adaption leading to scoliosis.
Transverse Plane
Another condition but at least you abnormal wear and tear at the hip joint is excessive limb rotation due to foot pronation. Foot pronation, or excessive collapsing of the foot, lease to excessive limb rotation which can cause abnormal cyclic load where at the hip joint.
Lateral Plane
Another condition that will add excessive trauma and compressive forces at the hip joint results from tight posterior muscle groups in the leg. This condition is known as equinus and results in abnormal cyclic load at the hip joint level.
Wolfes law states that if these abnormal compressive and loadbearing conditions continue for a period of time that there will be adaption and deterioration of bone and soft tissue at that joint level. This ultimately will lead to the intervention of joint implant surgery. Most of the time this is avoidable if hot and treated biomechanically.
Advancements in evaluation and treatment
- Understanding the cyclic load conditions of the hip in all three body planes using 3-D weight-bearing kinematic imaging is vital to the successful treatment of the hip joint. 3DO imaging, (Three Dimensional Orthodynamics), is a new state-of-the-art imaging technology that will isolate and identify complex cyclical load conditions affecting the body.
- Utilizing bioengineerd devices to control cyclic load conditions of the foots interaction with the ground significantly reduces trauma to the hip joint and will stop and many times reverse some of the arthritic damage in the joint especially in the younger patient. Bioengineered devices are a higher level of mechanical control the classic foot orthotics and provided very precise method of control for complex load conditions of the body.
More information about 3DO imaging is available through the following websites;
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