Injuries that could cause your hip pain
Exercise is one of the ways to improve your physical wellbeing and it aids in great measure to get rid of ailments, aches and pains. Follow the exercise programme provided by the biokineticists at Anine van der Westhuizen Biokineticist in George and feel the difference. This week biokineticist Lana Laubscher starts a series on the hip joint.
In the next few weeks we will concentrate on the hip joint, and hopefully reveal some misconceptions regarding the hip joint and hip pain. Of the pain caused by common injuries in the leg joints, hip pain often is the most difficult to diagnose. There are a couple of reasons for this: Firstly, there are simply too many possible causes of hip pain. A second, less obvious reason relates to the frequency of these injuries. The bony anatomy of the hip is actually quite straightforward. The head of the femur ends in a ball that articulates with a pocket in the pelvic bone, the acetabulum. This forms the classic ball-in-socket joint.
Yet, because of the extreme forces that this joint is subjected to and because of the very complicated supporting structures that help make it among one of the strongest and most stable joints in the body, many potential sources of hip pain are possible. Because the hip plays such an important role in weight bearing and locomotion, it is of the utmost importance to identify these injuries as early as possible, and treat them before they result in joint damage.
Let us review the more commonly encountered causes of hip pain:
Muscular strains and pulls in the groin, hamstring or piriformis (a small muscle in the buttock region that aids in turning out the hip joint); hip flexor tightness; bursitis; stress fractures; and labral tears.
Iliotibial band friction syndrome (ITBFS) may also cause hip pain, but it more commonly results in knee pain.
Groin pulls or tears
A pulled groin is caused by a strain in the hip adductors, the inner thigh muscles that pull the legs together. These muscles attach to the thigh bones at the level of the hip and run down the inside of the thigh, stabilising the joint. When overstretched or overused, small tears can develop, resulting in hip pain, swelling, and a dull ache in the groin area. Severe tears occur more suddenly and are associated with very sharp pain and bruising down the leg.
Unfortunately, many hip injuries can cause groin pain as well, so distinguishing a true groin pull from other possible injuries may not always be that straightforward. Usually a focused history and physical exam suffice to confirm the diagnosis. The treatment of a groin pull is similar to that of other pulled muscles. Rest, ice, compression and elevation can help to alleviate symptoms. Anti-inflammatory medications can be used to treat pain and once the injury has healed sufficiently, a gradual return to normal activity can follow. Next week we will focus on other hip injuries.