Why is your hip joint so important-and especially prone to fracture?

A hip joint can be a fun place to be on a Saturday night. But the hip joints on each side of your pelvis provide your best moves on the dance floor-and throughout much of your everyday life.

Each of your hip joints gives you a lot of stability because it needs to carry your body weight. But the ball-and-socket anatomy also gives you the ability to rotate and to move forward but not backward. One of the foundations of your body, the hip joint is a place where many different muscles and tendons attach.

Many of the injuries that happen to this ball-and-socket joint stem from overuse and the wear-and-tear of constantly being in motion (even if you tend to stay in on Saturday night these days). But because the hip joint is more stable than mobile, it's more prone to fracture than dislocation (especially as you get older, when it's more likely that you'll lose balance on a rug or uneven part of the pavement and land on your side).