24/04/2021
🛑 Hip Flexor Strain 🛑
PATHOLOGY & ANATOMY:
📍Lifting your knee toward your body takes the work of many muscles, which are collectively known as your hip flexors. The hip flexor muscles include:
* the iliacus and psoas major muscles, also known as your iliopsoas
* the re**us femoris, which is part of your quadriceps
📍These muscles and the tendons that connect them to your bones can easily be strained if you overuse them.
📍A hip flexor strain is a stretch or tear of a muscle in your hip. You use the hip flexor muscles when you flex or lift your knee, do high kicks, or bend at the waist.
📍Depending on the severity of the injury, it can take one to eight weeks for a hip flexor injury to heal. Minor injuries typically require one to three weeks of recovery time, while more severe muscle tears can take four to eight weeks.
SYMPTOMS:
❌ Sharp pain in the hip or pelvis after trauma
❌ Sudden hip pain
❌ Upper leg feeling tender and sore
❌ Muscle spasms
❌ Swelling and bruising on the thighs or hip
❌ Tightness and stiffness after long periods of rest
❌ Cramping in the upper leg
❌ Pain when lifting your leg to the chest
CAUSES:
❗️Your muscles can get strained from overuse i.e. dancing, cycling and running
❗️An athlete who jumps or runs with high knee kicks
❗️Athletes who do forceful kicking activities, i.e. football or martial arts
❗️A hip flexor strain represents a tearing in the muscles. These tears can range from mild to severe:
* Grade I tear: a minor tear, in which only a few fibers are damaged
* Grade II tear: a significant number of muscle fibers are damaged and you have a moderate loss of hip flexor function
* Grade III tear: the muscle is completely ruptured or torn, and you usually can’t walk without a limp
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TREATMENT:
✅ Immediate treatment to help relieve pain:
* Put an ice pack, gel pack, or package of frozen vegetables wrapped in a cloth on the sore area every 3 to 4 hours for up to 20 minutes at a time.
* Take nonprescription pain medicine, such as ibuprofen.
✅ Change or stop doing the activities that cause pain until the muscles have healed. E.g. swim instead of cycle or run.
✅ Stretching and strengthening exercises
✅ Warm-up exercises and stretching before activities can help prevent injuries.
✅ If your hip or thigh hurts after exercise, putting ice on it may help.
✅ When you ride a bicycle, make sure the seat is at the right height for you.
