Hip Flexor Treatment

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                 

We provide pain relief and treatment for hip flexor injuries caused by hip flexor strains in Newcastle.

 

Fitness Physio in Newcastle treat hip flexor injuries with evidence based treatments for pain relief and return to sport and daily activities.  Evidence based treatments have been shown to be more effective through clinical research, giving people a better chance of successful return to sport and life.                                    

Hip flexor anatomy hip flexor

 

The hip is a ball and socket joint, made up of the acetabulum (socket) and femoral head (ball). In between the two bones is cartilage. Ligaments and a surrounding capsule hold the joint together, keeping the joint stable with the muscles and tendon which also provides the movement.

The hip flexor muscle connects from the lower back and pelvis into the upper thigh. The hip flexor muscles works to move the hip forwards during activities, as well as stabilise the front of the hip during other types of hip movements.

 

How does the hip flexor become injured?

 

Hip flexor muscles and tendons can become torn resulting in pain with reduced strength and function.  It can be torn with sudden excessive or smaller repetitive forces where the tendon structure isn't strong enough to meet the demands of the thigh muscle contractions.

Most commonly the hip flexor is injured during sprints or where the there is high velocity hip movements in extremes range of movement.

 

What is the treatment for hip flexor strains? 

 

Hip flexor strains can respond very well to physiotherapy. The time for recovery is dependent on the degree and location of the tear.  It is important to get the right physiotherapy and rehab as no tears and people are the same.  Programs have to be individually tailored and progressed based on milestones achieved.

A program of education on load management plus specific exercises can be beneficial to manage hip flexor strains.

Reduce the load or stresses on the tendon is important as the hip flexor tendon can be re-injured of persistently irritated causing further inflammation, pain and reduced function.  Movements that are quick which overstretch the tendon such as sprinting and deep lunges should initially be avoided.

Once some settling down of the symptoms occur, then a supervised and slowly graded exercise to strengthen the tendon is administered.  The speed of the progression of exercises will vary depending on the degree of injury and speed of tissue recovery.