The hip joint is one of the largest weight-bearing joints in the body. This ball-and-socket joint allows the leg to move and rotate while keeping the body stable and balanced. Let's take a closer look at the main parts of the hip joint's anatomy.

This is a weakening and collapse of the bone in the head of your femur. That's the ball that fits in the socket of your hip. As this bone gradually dies and breaks apart, you can develop painful arthritis in your hip.

This is an irritation or swelling of the trochanteric bursa. This small, fluid-filled sac is found on the outer side of the femur. It acts as a cushion for the iliotibial band, a thick tendon in your leg.

This is a problem with the hip joint. In a healthy hip, the ball of the femur is smooth and round. It fits perfectly into the hip socket. But with this condition, the ball, the socket or both the ball and the socket are shaped poorly. They don't fit together well. When you move your hip, they rub together harmfully.

The thigh bone, also called the "femur", is the largest and strongest bone in your body. A femur fracture is a crack or a break of this bone.

A femur fracture is a break of the thighbone. In children, this injury isn't as common as fractures of other bones. But it can happen. And when it does, it's a serious injury.

The hamstrings are three powerful muscles that travel along the back of your thigh. They are the semitendinosus, the semimembranosus and the biceps femoris muscles. They help bend your knee and extend your leg behind your body. Because these muscles handle high loads of stress, they are susceptible to stretching and tearing. This is called a muscle "strain." Hamstring strains are common among runners, dancers, and athletes who play sports that require sudden starts and stops.

With this injury, the head of your femur (which is shaped like a ball) slips out of your hip socket. It may slip forward or backward out of position. This can damage structures around the joint.

This is a break of the upper part of your femur. The femur is the long bone in your upper leg. At the top of the femur is the "head." This is the ball that fits into your hip socket. A hip fracture may happen at the "neck" of the femur (the thin portion of bone under the head). Fractures may also happen below the neck.

A broken hip is serious and disabling. With a broken hip, you may not be able to care for yourself. Sometimes, complications from a hip fracture can lead to death. Avoid a broken hip with these basic safety measures.

This is a problem on the outer side of your thigh. It's an inflammation of the iliotibial band. That's a thick band of tissue that spans from your hip to your shinbone. When this band becomes in inflamed, it can hurt.

This is a type of arthritis that can affect people of all ages. It's not the same as the most common form of arthritis, called "osteoarthritis." That type commonly comes from wear and tear. Inflammatory arthritis can develop without any wear and tear at all.

If your hip joint hurts, or if it catches or clicks when you move your leg, you may have a torn labrum. That's a rim of tissue that surrounds the hip's socket. It helps to deepen the socket and cushion the joint. A torn labrum can keep the hip joint from working smoothly.

If you have a strange sensation in your hip joint, it could be a "loose body." That's a bit of bone or cartilage that has broken away and moves around in your joint.

The hip is where the femur meets the pelvis. Several strong muscles are found here. They handle high loads of stress. They may suffer from overstretching and tearing. This is called a muscle "strain." It's a common injury among athletes who play sports that require sudden starts and stops.

Your thigh has groups of powerful muscles. The quadriceps, the adductors and the hamstring muscles handle high loads of stress. They may suffer from overstretching and tearing. This is called a muscle "strain." It is a common injury among athletes who play sports that require sudden starts and stops.

This type of arthritis, also called "degenerative joint disease," is a breakdown of the cartilage in your hip joint. As this protective cartilage wears away, bone rubs against bone. Bony growths called "bone spurs" may form in the joint. Pain from osteoarthritis can keep you from being as active as you like.

Knee pain may keep you from being as active as you like. And it may come from a gradual breakdown of your knee's cartilage. That's a protective tissue on the ends of your bones. In a healthy knee, the bones glide smoothly against each other. But in a knee with osteoarthritis, cartilage begins to wear away. Bone rubs against bone. Bony bumps we call "bone spurs" may form.

If you have an infection in a bone, you have osteomyelitis. It's a serious condition that can cause part of your bone to die. And, the infection can spread to other parts of your body.

This condition is a deformity of the femoral head caused by a temporary loss of blood supply to the hip joint. Perthes disease usually affects children between four and 10 years of age.

Your sacroiliac joints (we call them the "SI" joints) are the places where your hips meet your spine. These joints don't have a lot of flexibility, but they do move slightly as you move your body. And if SI joints become damaged or diseased, it can be painful.

This is a problem with the head of the femur in growing children. With this condition, the ball-like head slips out of place in the hip socket. It moves down and back. This slip happens at the femur's neck, along a growth plate. That's where new bone develops. Growth plates are weaker than the surrounding bone.

This is a snapping or a popping sensation in your hip. It may happen when you stand up, when you walk, or when you move your leg a certain way.

This is a strain or a tear of soft tissue. It often involves the muscles and tendons that travel from your lower abdomen to your pubic bone. A sports hernia does not create a hole in your abdominal wall. This injury can be difficult to diagnose, because it does not cause a bulge in your skin.

This is a sudden loss of bone density in the head of the femur. That's the ball that fits into the socket of your pelvis to form the hip joint. With transient osteoporosis, the femur's head weakens and your hip begins to hurt.