Hip Impingement and Labral injury
Hip impingement and labral injury or labral tears may be recent buzz words you’ve heard if you’ve ever experienced hip pain. Due to the increased flexibility available to many performing artists, dancers and hypermobile athletes, sometimes this can predispose an athlete to more joint-related injuries around the hip. Impingement and labral injury can be a little interchangeable and thus can be confusing as they can cause similar symptoms.
With a labral injury needing potential further assessment, there is an audible clicking sound that can be reproduced by an athlete or dancer with one or a few specific movements of the leg or body. There can also be a subjective feeling of catching in the joint and pain with certain directions of movement, particularly if turning the leg inward and/or bringing it across the body.
Impingement can occur as the result of a bony abnormality that decreases the congruency of the joint or it can be due to a soft tissue injury such as a labral tear (also sometimes referred to as internal intra-articular snapping hip) or external snapping hip of the psoas tendon over the femur. The bony abnormality is typically call femoral acetabular impingement, while a soft tissue cause may be more generally referred to as hip impingement or snapping hip.
In spite of the confusing word options, the good news is that oftentimes these issues can be treated effectively with rehabilitation rather than more invasive procedures. In some rare cases of persistent and severe pain, surgery may be needed. Either way, the rehab process is extremely important for returning to performance-ready status. Our dance and performing arts medicine specialists at ProMotion can help get you back to where you need to be.
