Which muscle attaches to the hip bones

This small rim of cartilage can be injured and cause pain and clicking in the hip. The hip is surrounded by thick muscles. The gluteals make up the muscles of the buttocks on the back of the hip.

The inner thigh is formed by the adductor muscles. The main action of the adductors is to pull the leg inward toward the other leg. The muscles that flex the hip are in front of the hip joint. These include the iliopsoas muscle. This deep muscle begins in the low back and pelvis and connects on the inside edge of the upper femur.

Another large hip flexor is the rectus femoris. The rectus femoris is one of the quadriceps muscles, the largest group of muscles on the front of the thigh. Smaller muscles going from the pelvis to the hip help to stabilize and rotate the hip. Finally, the hamstring muscles that run down the back of the thigh start on the bottom of the pelvis. The upper part of the thigh bone consists of the femoral head, femoral neck, and greater and lesser trochanters. The head of the femur joins the pelvis acetabulum to form the hip joint.

Next to the femoral neck, there are two protrusions known as greater and lesser trochanters which serve as sites of muscle attachment. Articular cartilage is the thin, tough, flexible, and slippery surface lubricated by synovial fluid that covers the weight-bearing bones of the body. It enables smooth movements of the bones and reduces friction. Ligaments are fibrous structures that connect bones to other bones. The hip joint is encircled with ligaments to provide stability to the hip by forming a dense and fibrous structure around the joint capsule.

The ligaments adjoining the hip joint include:. A long tendon called the iliotibial band runs along the femur from the hip to the knee and serves as an attachment site for several hip muscles including the following:. Nerves of the hip transfer signals from the brain to the muscles to aid in hip movement. The hip is located where the head of the femur, or thighbone, fits into a rounded socket of the pelvis. This ball-and-socket construction allows for three distinct types of flexibility:.

Hip problems occur when any one of these components starts to degenerate or is in some way compromised or irritated. Read more about What Is Cartilage? See What Is a Synovial Joint? Together, these muscles support the hip joint, so exercises to relieve hip osteoarthritis symptoms will focus on these muscles as well as muscles of the core. When the hip joint becomes inflamed and painful, the pain may be felt in the groin but may also be referred into the back, buttocks and down the front or back of the leg.