ALLEVIATING HIP DYSPLASIA PAIN IN DOGS
By: Peter Demmon
Hip dysplasia in dogs is a horribly painful disease. It is a disease that doesn't just affect large-breed dogs, though traditionally it is assumed that these are the only dogs that get it. There are some solutions to ease your dog's pain and work with the disease however. The avoidance of obesity, a regular, low impact exercise routine and glucosamine all seem to be parts of the solution. With the proper insight and attention, a dog's suffering can be assuaged.
The simplest way of looking at hip dysplasia is that the bones of the hips don't fit together correctly. The thigh bone (the ball) is supposed snugly fit into the hip bone(the socket). Part of that snug fit is for movement, and another part of that fit is for weight support. Obviously, there is more than just bone there, there is a layer of cartilage involved. When any of these factors are compromised, it is called hip dysplasia.
The technical terms of this are that the femur is supposed to fit into the acetabulum. The femur being the thigh bone and the acetabulum being the hip socket. Think of your own leg and how easily it rotates within of your hip. Now imagine an air pocket in there, or a layer of sandpaper covering the femur. Or imagine that it is just loose, and that you can reach down with your hand and wiggle your leg inside of the socket. You are well on your way to comprehending a dog's hip dysplasia.
If the bones don't fit properly, there will ultimately be some friction and that can lead to all sorts of arthritic pain issues. The degrees of pain can be mild to none, or extreme. If the ball is knocking around in the socket, this is called subluxation (partial dislocation). If the ball drops completely out of the socket, this is called luxation (complete dislocation). More interesting still is the fact that both legs will be affected, this isn't a "single-side" issue. The limp that a dog will demonstrate is merely on the most compromised side.
Think again about the sandpaper between the ball and socket. There is supposed to be a smooth surface called the articular hyaline cartilage (or gristle) surface. It is basically a layer of springy cartilage. Obviously, this would be the oil or grease for the machine, but in the case of hip dysplasia, this layer of meaty lubrication is no longer present. What results is bone grinding against bone for each motion in the hip. The ugliest part of this entire cycle is that the dog's body tries to compensate for this by creating more bone within the hip socket and on the ball of the femur. This in turn can cause lots of painful, freakish misshaping as new bone is worn away.
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