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5 Common Hip Injuries

5 Common Hip Injuries

There can be many causes of hip pain and hip injuries, but we will be talking about the most common in this blog. Having hip pain can limit you from doing your daily life activities, playing with your kids, performing you job duties and cause you a lot of unnecessary stress if you don’t get it checked out right away! Below we will be discussing the common hip injuries, how they present, risk factors and what to do if you think you have one of these injuries. 

What are the top hip injuries?

  • Bursitis
  • Snapping Hip Syndrome
  • Labral Tear
  • Strain
  • Arthritis

Injuries explained:

Bursitis:

  • Bursae are located throughout the body in most joints. They are small, jelly-like sacs that are filled with small amounts of fluid and are positioned between the bones and soft tissue to reduce friction in the body.
  • When you get bursitis, the fluid filled sacs of the joint becomes inflamed and can cause pain and stiffness in that joint.
  • Presentation:
    • Pain at the point of the hip
    • Can be sharp / shooting or dull and achy
    • Gets worse at night
    • Pain with lying on affected side
    • Worse with prolonged walking or activity
  • Risk Factors:
    • Repetitive movements (running, stairs, biking, etc)
    • Falling on the hip
    • RA
    • Previous surgeries
    • Bone spurs or calcium deposits
  • Treatment:
    • Reduce aggravating factors
    • NSAIDS
    • Physical Therapy
    • Steroids

Snapping Hip Syndrome: 

  • Snapping hip syndrome is when you feel or hear a snapping sensation in your hip when you walk, get up from a chair or do a certain movement when your leg flexes (bends) and extends (straightens).
  • When this happens, your muscle or tendon literally “snaps” over the bone at your hip. Overall this is usually a painless thing, but can lead to problems such as bursitis or pain down the road.
  • Presentation:
    • Popping or snapping at the hip
    • Feeling of stiffness or needing to “pop” at the hip
  • Risk Factors:
    • Bursitis
    • Wear and tear of the muscle and tendon
    • Pain when doing your favorite activities
  • Treatment:
    • Avoid doing the things you love
    • NSAIDS
    • Physical Therapy

Labral Tear:

  • This is an injury to the labrum, the soft tissue that covers the acetabulum (socket) of the hip. The labrum helps the femoral head (ball of the joint) move smoothly within the socket. It also serves as a seal, keeping the ball and socket together, but not touching.
  • Presentation:
    • Hip pain or stiffness
    • Clicking or locking of the hip
    • Unsteadiness on your feet
    • Catching of the hip
  • Risk Factors:
    • OA
    • Further injury
    • Full tear
    • Surgery
  • Treatment:
    • NSAIDS
    • Injections
    • Physical Therapy

Strain:

  • This is when one of the muscles in the hip is stretched or torn.
  • Presentation:
    • Pain, swelling or loss of strength
    • Usually occurs when you overuse a muscle, it is stretched beyond its limits or falling, suddenly forcing the muscle to bear unexpected weight.
  • Risk Factors:
    • Pain doing your favorite activities
    • Inability to play with your kids
    • Wear and tear of the muscles
    • Increase risk for re-injury
  • Treatment:
    • NSAIDS
    • RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation)
    • Physical Therapy

Arthritis:

  • OA is one of the most common forms of arthritis. This is the wear and tear of the joint. This is very common and usually occurs by aging, being overweight, suffering an injury that adds stress to your hip joint.
  • Presentations:
    • Discomfort / pain
    • Stiffness
    • Inflammation
    • Painful mobility
    • Creaking in the joint
  • Risk Factors:
    • Being overweight
    • Suffering from an injury that adds stress to the joint
    • Normal aging
  • Treatment:
    • NSAIDS
    • Injections
    • Physical therapy
    • Join Replacement

Why Physical Therapy, Why NOW?!

  • No pain, no gain is not “a thing”
  • Find out the cause of Your pain
  • People don’t often fit into a single “bubble” of what is causing pain
  • Personalized Care
  • Increased Strength
  • Increased Mobility
  • Reduced/Absent Pain
  • Improved Body-Awareness
  • Education regarding your condition and how to manage it

Whenever pain is a factor, muscle groups stop working efficiently and people avoid pain provoking activities.  The result is weakness, reduced mobility, and more pain.  Waiting to get your hip evaluated only extends the time it takes to get you back to living the life you want, participating in activities you enjoy, and being able to comfortably sit, walk, run, etc.  Time is the only thing that you can’t get back.  Spend some time with our team of therapists and athletic trainers, so that you can spend more time focusing on the things and people that matter most!

Give us a call at 703-450-4300 and get scheduled for your evaluation!

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