Check what your hip does before choosing care

Match the sore spot to the motion

A deep groin pinch often starts with bending. You'll also notice soreness while pivoting on one foot.

Long sitting can leave your hip feeling tight. Rising from a low chair may sting.

Outer tenderness points more toward a tendon. That tendon keeps your pelvis level while walking.

Healthy hips can click too. Clicking isn't enough to name the cause.

Try easier motion before doing more

Use a higher chair for several days. Don't force the deep bend that pinches.

Shorten your stride if long steps hurt. Don't keep walking when your steps become shaky.

You'll record the exact motion that hurts. Also note what your hip still handles.

Don't stop the easier motion if it helps. You'll give the sore tissue time to settle.

Bring your scan to a full exam

A scan can show the labrum and bone shape. It can't show which motion hurts you.

Bring the report and point to your sore spot. You'll ask whether an outer tendon fits better.

Your doctor may test both hips. That'll show how the stiff hip differs.

Biologic therapies are one choice QC Kinetix offers; a medical provider prepares material from your body and puts it into the hip at the clinic without surgery.

Surgery isn't automatic for hip impingement. Your daily limits and joint wear both matter.

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. Hip dysplasia is a leading precursor of hip osteoarthritis and is present in 20% to 40% of patients with hip OA; associated femoral deformities occur in more than 50%, so the structural anatomy of a dysplastic hip must be assessed in multiple planes. Acetabular osteotomy is the usual treatment in the pre-arthritic dysplastic hip.

   Gala L, Clohisy JC, Beaule PE — Hip Dysplasia in the Young Adult.. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (Am), 2016. DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.O.00109.