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The Surprise Hip Mechanics Desk
An evidence desk for the Northwest Valley

The Surprise Hip Mechanics Desk

Get straight answers to common hip questions

Arizona Traditions adds golf turns to many weekly routines. Your questions may start when those turns hurt.

These answers can prepare you for an exam. They can't name your problem at home.

Where you hurt and what starts it both matter. Sudden warning signs matter even more.

Will a hip labral tear heal on its own?

The torn rim may not look new again. Your soreness can still improve without surgery. Cut back the walk or bend that hurts. Build your hip strength slowly as soreness allows. A fall, shallow socket, or arthritis changes the answer. Ask what else your exam found.

What causes a hip labral tear?

A hard turn or impact can tear the rim. Repeated deep bends may also bother it. Some hips have extra bone near the ball. Others have a socket that covers less of it. Your exam and scan can show either shape. Age-related joint wear may also play a part.

How do you treat a hip labral tear?

First, check whether the tear matches your soreness. Start by easing painful bends and building strength slowly. Medicine may help for a short time. It won't repair every source of hip pain. QC Kinetix offers platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and other regenerative treatments: medical providers prepare your blood or other body material and guide it into the hip without surgery.

What is hip impingement (FAI) and does it need surgery?

Hip impingement means the bones meet early during motion. It may pinch when you bend or turn. A bone shape alone doesn't mean surgery. Your symptoms, exam and scan must agree. Try well-planned therapy before deciding. Surgery may help when strong limits remain.

How to tell if hip pain is muscular or bone?

Outer tenderness often comes from nearby tendons. Deep groin pain points more toward the joint. Pain below the knee may start in your back. Numbness or weakness adds concern. You can't be certain from location alone. An exam can sort the likely source.

What exercises can I do to relieve hip pain?

Start with motion that doesn't sharply raise pain. Walking or cycling may feel easier than deep bends. Build hip and trunk strength little by little. Don't force a pinch to finish an exercise. Check how you feel the next day. If soreness jumps, ease the work back.

Sources

  1. In 45 volunteers with no history of hip pain, symptoms, injury or surgery, blinded 3.0-T MRI found abnormalities in 73% of hips - labral tears in 69%, chondral defects in 24%, subchondral cysts in 16% and osseous bumps in 20%. A labral tear on MRI is therefore not by itself an explanation for hip pain.

    Register B, et al. — Prevalence of abnormal hip findings in asymptomatic participants: a prospective, blinded study.. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2012. DOI: 10.1177/0363546512462124.

  2. A prospective 1.5-T MRI comparison of 63 asymptomatic volunteers and 63 age- and gender-matched symptomatic FAI patients aged 20-50 found cartilage and/or labral defects in 57% of the asymptomatic group versus 80% of patients; labral defects alone were seen in 44% of volunteers versus 61% of patients (P<=0.12). Not all hip cartilage and labral defects are symptomatic.

    Tresch F, et al. — Hip MRI: Prevalence of articular cartilage defects and labral tears in asymptomatic volunteers. A comparison with a matched population of patients with femoroacetabular impingement.. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 2017. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.25565.

  3. A systematic review of 60 imaging studies found radiographic signs of femoroacetabular impingement are common in athletes, asymptomatic people AND symptomatic patients; cam morphology was significantly more common in symptomatic than asymptomatic subjects (p=0.009) and mean alpha angle was significantly higher in the symptomatic group, but the overlap is large enough that imaging alone cannot make the diagnosis.

    Mascarenhas VV, et al. — Imaging prevalence of femoroacetabular impingement in symptomatic patients, athletes, and asymptomatic individuals: A systematic review.. European Journal of Radiology, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2015.10.016.

  4. UK FASHIoN, a 348-patient pragmatic multicentre RCT, found hip arthroscopy improved hip-related quality of life more than a personalised physiotherapist-led programme at 12 months (adjusted mean iHOT-33 difference 6.8, 95% CI 1.7-12.0; p=0.0093), just exceeding the 6.1-point minimum clinically important difference. Both groups improved substantially, and five of six serious adverse events in the surgical arm were treatment-related.

    Griffin DR, et al. — Hip arthroscopy versus best conservative care for the treatment of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (UK FASHIoN): a multicentre randomised controlled trial.. The Lancet, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31202-9.

  5. The Australian FASHIoN trial randomized 99 FAI patients and used delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage as its primary outcome specifically because surgery has large contextual effects. At 12 months there was no significant dGEMRIC difference between arthroscopy and physiotherapist-led care (adjusted difference -59 ms, p=0.14, favouring physiotherapy), even though the surgical group reported better symptoms (iHOT-33 +14, 95% CI 5.6-23.9). Symptom benefit was not explained by better cartilage metabolism.

    Hunter DJ, et al. — Multi-centre randomised controlled trial comparing arthroscopic hip surgery to physiotherapist-led care for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome on hip cartilage metabolism: the Australian FASHIoN trial.. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 2021. DOI: 10.1186/s12891-021-04576-z.

  6. The 2019 ACR/Arthritis Foundation guideline makes STRONG recommendations for exercise, weight loss in people with overweight or obesity, self-efficacy and self-management programmes, tai chi, cane use and oral NSAIDs across hand, hip and knee OA - but its strong recommendations for topical NSAIDs and for intra-articular glucocorticoid injection are specific to the KNEE, not the hip.

    Kolasinski SL, et al. — 2019 American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation Guideline for the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip, and Knee.. Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2020. DOI: 10.1002/art.41142.

  7. FDA states verbatim that regenerative medicine products including stem cells, stromal vascular fraction, umbilical cord blood, Wharton's jelly, amniotic fluid and exosomes have NOT been approved 'for the treatment of any orthopedic condition, such as osteoarthritis, tendonitis, disc disease, tennis elbow, back pain, hip pain, knee pain, neck pain, or shoulder pain.' The only FDA-approved stem cell products in the United States are blood-forming (hematopoietic progenitor) cells derived from umbilical cord blood, approved only for disorders affecting blood production.

    U.S. Food and Drug Administration — Consumer Alert on Regenerative Medicine Products Including Stem Cells and Exosomes.. FDA, 2026.

  8. A Bayesian network meta-analysis of 11 randomized trials (1353 patients) in hip osteoarthritis found that at 2-4 months and 6 months NO injectable - corticosteroid, hyaluronic acid or platelet-rich plasma - significantly outperformed a saline placebo injection for pain or function. Pooled change from baseline exceeded the minimal clinically important difference in every arm including placebo.

    Gazendam A, et al. — Intra-articular saline injection is as effective as corticosteroids, platelet-rich plasma and hyaluronic acid for hip osteoarthritis pain: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2021. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-102179.

Bring details that help your exam

Regenerative treatments at QC Kinetix mean medical providers prepare material from your body and deliver it to the hip at the clinic without surgery. They'll review your soreness and explain when other care comes first.

Bring a scan if you have one. Name the motion you miss and call (602) 837-PAIN.

Book a free consultation