Welcome to the MedLibrary.org Wikipedia Supplement on Hip-joint -- Please Click to Return to Front Page

This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (June 2008)

For other uses of the term, see hip (disambiguation).

Hip (anatomy)
Right hip-joint from the front.
Bones of the hip
Latin	coxa
Gray's	subject #92 333
MeSH	Hip
Dorlands/Elsevier	h_12/12422739

In anatomy, the hip is the bony projection of the femur which is known as the greater trochanter, and the overlying muscle and fat. The hip joint, scientifically referred to as the acetabulofemoral joint, is the joint between the femur and acetabulum of the pelvis and its primary function is to support the weight of the body in both static (e.g. standing) and dynamic (e.g. walking or running) postures.

Description of the bones of the hips

The hip bones are divided into 5 areas, which are:

• The sacrum: This is a bone at the base of the vertebral column that is created by the fusion of 5 vertebrae. It attaches to the ilium on the sides. It also provides a point of muscle attachment for back muscles.
• The coccyx (also called the tail bone): This is a small vestigial bone that attaches to the base of the sacrum. It is created from the fusion of up to 5 small vertebrae.
• The ilium: This is the largest area of the hip bones. It consists of 2 large broad plates, one on each side, which serve to support the internal organs, and to provide attachment for muscles of the back, sides, and buttocks. The hip joint of the femur is part of the ilium.
• The ischium: The ischium consists of 2 broad curves of bone, one on each side, which lie below the ilium, and are attached to the pubis in the front and the ilium in the back. The ischium serves as a place of attachment for muscles. The ischium may press into the buttocks during long periods of sitting and may be a source of irritation.
• The pubis: The pubis is the front-most area of the hip bones. It attaches to the ilium on the sides and the ischium on the bottom. It provides structural support, and serves as a place of attachment for the muscles of the inner thigh.

Movements

Seven different kinds of movements are possible in the hip joint:

• Flexion and extension on or from the spine or on or from the thigh
• Abduction and adduction of the femur
• Internal (medial) and external (lateral) rotation of the pelvis, thigh or spine
• Circumduction of the femur or pelvis

A synovial joint that can produce movement around more than one axis is called a multiaxial joint.

ways.

Sexual dimorphism in humans

In humans, unlike other animals, the hip bones are substantially different in the two sexes. The hips of human females are wider^[1] than those of males. The femurs are also more widely spaced in females, so as to widen the opening in the hip bone and thus facilitate childbirth. Finally, the ilium and its muscle attachment are shaped so as to situate the buttocks away from the birth canal, where contraction of the buttocks could otherwise damage the baby.

Cultural significance of hips

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)

In art and culture, a woman's hips are often viewed as a symbol of fertility.

The female hips have long been associated with both fertility and general expression of sexuality. Since broad hips facilitate child birth and also serve as an anatomical cue of sexual maturity, they have been seen as an attractive trait for women for thousands of years. Many of the classical poses women take when sculpted, painted or photographed, such as the Odalisque, serve to emphasize the prominence of their hips. Similarly, women's fashion through the ages has often drawn attention to the girth of the wearer's hips.

See also

• Hip examination
• Hip replacement
• Snapping Hip Syndrome
• Female body shape
• WHR (Waist-Hip Ratio)
• Hip dysplasia (human)
• Sexual dimorphism

Gallery

Radiograph of a healthy human hip joint

References

External links

Look up hip in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Hip anatomy video
• Hip fractures

v • d • e Human anatomical features Head Skull · Forehead · Eye · Ear · Nose · Mouth · Tongue · Teeth · Jaw · Face · Cheek · Chin Neck Throat · Adam's apple Torso Shoulders · Spine · Breast (Tail of Spence) · Chest · Ribcage · Abdomen · Navel Sex organs (Clitoris · Vagina · Penis · Scrotum · Testicle) – Hip · Anus · Buttocks Limbs Arm · Elbow · Forearm · Wrist · Hand · Finger (Thumb · Index · Middle · Ring · Little) · Leg · Lap · Thigh · Knee · Calf · Heel · Ankle · Foot · Toe (Hallux) Skin Hair

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 6 October 2008, at 17:16.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Hip-joint".

The URL for this specific entry is:

• http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Hip-joint

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.