Hip pain is most common in sportspersons and athletes. The most common reasons for hip discomfort in athletes are direct impact injuries or overuse syndromes, but various hip injuries can cause pain and discomfort in hips.
If you are an athlete or somebody investing most time into sports and outdoor games, it is essential to pay heed to hip pain when as early as you notice it or it may turn into a chronic condition difficult to prevent. In this blog, we have brought to you some of the most common hip injuries faced by athletes.
Common Hip Injuries encountered by athletes
Bursitis
Bursitis is caused by the inflammation of the bursa or cushion between the hip bone and the muscle. The common symptom noticed is acute pain at the hip point, it is usually a result of contact sports like ice hockey and football.
Tendonitis
Tendonitis occurs in tendons surrounding the hip joint. The type of hip tendonitis athletes encounter most frequently is iliotibial band tendonitis or IT band tendonitis. It causes pain in the hip and knee. It is mostly seen in endurance athletes like long-distance runners.
Hip Pointer
Hip pointer injuries are the result of a direct impact on the iliac crest (the top of the hip bone). In this case, the overlying muscle and the bone are often bruised and causes intense pain.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is another common reason for intense hip pain, especially in older athletes. In the condition, the cartilage protecting the joints starts wearing out. With age, the protective cartilage begins to erode until the bone underneath is exposed. It causes pain while joint movement and lifting weight.
Hip Labral Tear
Hip labral tears are a result of hip labrum injury. The hip labrum is a part of the hip that functions like, a bumper surrounding the hip socket. This hip injury causes pain in the groin and leaves an electrifying sensation in the hip.
Hip Impingement
Hip Impingement is a sports medicine condition that is mostly detected in young and middle-aged athletes. It happens with individuals who have hip bones that have an unusual shape and fail to fit perfectly in unison.
Stress Fracture
Stress fractures are the result of repetitive trauma to the hip bone over years of being into endurance sport athletes, such as long-distance runners.
Avascular Necrosis
Avascular Necrosis is a condition explained as ‘death of a bone’ because of inadequate blood flow. When occurred in the hip, it is mostly in the ball of the hip joint, known as the femoral head. It results in dull ache or throbbing in the groin, hip or buttock. It also causes pain while moving the hips from side to side and walking.
Treatment for a hip injury
If you are facing a minor hip injury, resting and applying ice for around 15-20 minutes at an interval of 2-4 hours will help. In case of intense pain and uneasiness, you can get OTC pain killers such as aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, etc.
Seek instant medical checkup for pain in the hip due to a sports injury and one that involves:
- A deformed joint
- Inability to move your hip or leg
- Acute pain and immediate swelling
The treatment options for serious hip injury is hip arthroscopy, or partial or total hip replacement depending on the intensity of the injury. However, in most cases, medication and physical therapy get a good response from the patient.