In fact, it represents the point of union between the head of the femur (thigh bone) and a characteristic hollow of the iliac bone (pelvis bone), called the acetabulum.
Finely innervated and vascularized, the hip has two articular surfaces (the aforementioned femoral head and acetabulum), a joint capsule, a series of ligaments and a pair of synovial bursae; moreover, it is closely associated with a number of muscles.
The hip has two functions: it serves to support the weight of the upper body and to allow the movements of the lower limb.
The hip is an example of enarthrosis; also known as ball diarthrosis, enarthrosis are joints with considerable mobility, which are characterized by the perfect fit of an articular surface in the shape of a spherical ball in an equally spherical concave articular surface.
The hip is also known as the "coxo-femoral joint" and the "femoro-acetabular joint".
In the human body, a "joint very similar to the hip" in that it is always an "enarthrosis" is the glenohumeral joint of the shoulder.
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