If you hear an audible click when you walk, get up from a seating position, or swing your leg around, you may be suffering from snapping hip syndrome.
What is Snapping Hip Syndrome?
As the name implies, hip syndrome is characterized by a snapping or popping sound in your hip when it is extended or flexed. For this reason, it is often called dancer’s hip, as intense exertion on the tendons and bands in the legs can cause this uncomfortable and downright painful condition.
Our legs are able to move in such controlled and impressive ways due to the long bands of muscle and tendon that we possess; more specifically, the snapping of the iliotibial band and iliopsoas tendon, or labral tears in our legs can lead to the development of hip syndrome. Essentially, these tendons no longer fit neatly in their sockets or have lost the tension they need to function properly.
There are two types of hip syndrome:
- Inter-articular
- Extra-articular
These two conditions are slightly different and affect different tendons within the leg and hip.
Causes
While athletes and dancers are exceptionally vulnerable, repeated bending at the hip may cause the development of this syndrome.
Exercising while suffering from this syndrome can actually do serious damage if you aren’t careful, and a snapping sound in your body every time you flex your hip isn’t exactly comforting.
Symptoms
- Pain
- Inflammation
- Leg muscle weakness when trying to lift your leg sideways or forward
- Swelling
- Difficulty with regular physical activity such as walking or rising from your chair
- Feeling your hip is coming out of place
Treatments
- Rest. People with hip syndrome are advised to avoid the motions that cause the popping or clicking sensation.
- NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors.
- Physical therapy.
- Steroid injections.
