Diet taboos for femoral head necrosis

The first is long-term intake of large amounts of high-sugar, high-fat, and high-salt foods; the second is excessive drinking of any form; the third is privately taking folk remedies containing glucocorticoids, and the third is no supplements. Most of the other so-called "can't eat fat foods" and "can't touch cold foods" have no evidence-based medical basis, so you don't need to put too many dietary shackles on yourself.

To be honest, the biggest regret I encountered in the outpatient clinic was the progression of the disease caused by alcohol. There was a 32-year-old patient with early-stage necrosis. After half a year of conservative treatment, the pain basically disappeared, and the bone perfusion on the re-examination was slowly recovering. As a result, he and his friends drank heavily for two days. In the middle of the night, he was in so much pain that he couldn't stand up and was sent to the emergency room. After the re-examination, he had local trabecular bone collapse. There has always been controversy about drinking in the academic community. One group of scholars believes that consuming no more than 50ml of low-alcohol red wine per week has little impact on microcirculation and even has a weak vasodilatory effect. However, the consensus of almost all orthopedic surgeons is that hard alcohol and drinking more than 2 taels at a time will 100% increase the risk of local blood vessel embolism in the femoral head. Even early-stage patients may directly progress to the point of needing surgery. Therefore, if you can't control your mouth, it is safer to not drink alcohol at all.

In addition to alcohol, which is a real "bone health killer", many patients' daily pitfalls are actually in invisible eating habits. Many patients don't like to move because of leg pain, so they stay at home and order takeout every day. They alternate between eating milk tea, fried chicken, and pickled vegetables. Within half a year, their blood lipids exceed the standard. The blood supply vessels around the femoral head are originally narrower than other parts. When the blood lipids are high, the blood viscosity increases, and the capillaries that are not smooth are directly blocked more severely. Bone cells cannot receive nutrients and naturally die faster. I previously followed up an aunt in her 50s, and her recovery progress was very slow at first. Later, she was persuaded to replace her daily cup of pearl milk tea with freshly squeezed grain juice, and cut out one-third of the salt in her cooking. After three months, she came back for a follow-up check and found that her capillary perfusion was much better. Of course, there is no need to go to extremes. Many patients come and ask if beef, mutton, and seafood cannot be eaten. There is really no such statement. As long as you are not allergic to these foods, high-quality proteins such as lean beef and deep-sea fish can help repair bone tissue. Just don't eat fat every day. The so-called "fatty foods aggravate necrosis" really has no clinical basis.

What is more terrifying than eating the wrong thing is the habit of many patients who seek medical treatment indiscriminately and take supplements when they are ill. Last year, there was a patient from a rural area who originally suffered from stage II necrosis. A hip-preserving surgery could save his femoral head. However, he heard from the village doctor that the problem could be cured by taking folk remedies. He spent more than 20,000 yuan to buy a bunch of unpackaged pills. When he took them, the pain immediately disappeared. However, when he went back for a review six months later, he found that the femoral head had completely collapsed to stage IV, and he could only do joint replacement. More than 90% of those who take the "magic medicine for bone disease" that immediately relieves pain have illegally added a large amount of glucocorticoids. The hormone itself is one of the core causes of femoral head necrosis. Taking it to relieve pain in the short term will only accelerate the death of bone cells and accelerate the progress of collapse. Of course, this does not mean that hormones are completely off limits. If you need to take hormones regularly because of other immune diseases or skin diseases, as long as you communicate with an orthopedic surgeon in advance and adjust the dosage and monitor regularly, there will be no big problem. The biggest fear is that you will be hurting yourself if you eat things with unknown ingredients without permission.

As for the "can't drink carbonated drinks and can't drink coffee" posted on the Internet, it's actually not that absolute. Occasionally taking a sip of Coke when you are greedy, or drinking a cup of Americano when you feel sleepy in the afternoon will not affect your condition at all. As long as you do not drink carbonated drinks as water and drink three or four cups of strong coffee a day - long-term intake of large amounts of carbonic acid will indeed affect calcium absorption. Excessive caffeine may also aggravate vasospasm and is not good for bone repair, but there is no need to treat them as a scourge.

The most common thing I say to follow-up patients is, don’t regard eating as a task. You don’t dare to eat this or touch that. In the end, malnutrition hinders recovery. The core of dietary control for femoral head necrosis has never been "what not to eat", but "don't step on those fatal pitfalls". In the remaining time, balanced nutrition and happy eating are better than anything else.