Why Does My Hip Hurt With Exercise?

Have you ever had a pinching sensation in the front of your hip or inner hip near your groin with squats?? Maybe an aching sensation in your hip after repetitive activities such as cycling or running? Now, there are many reasons why your hip might be hurting with exercise, but one of the most common hip conditions that we see in physical therapy is called femoral acetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome or simply “impingement”.

FAI happens when there are abnormalities in the bony alignment of the hip joint. Your hip joint is made up of a ball and socket. With impingement syndrome, there’s an overgrowth of bone either on the socket part or the ball of the femur, or both. This causes inflammation and pain when the two interact as you move. ⠀

There are 2 main types of bony impingement. They are called CAM and pincer deformities. CAM is when there is an overgrowth of bone on the end of the femur, or thigh bone. On the other hand, pincer is when there is an overgrowth of the femoral acetabulum or hip socket. You can also have a combination of both of these, which can make hip movement particularly painful.

If you have impingement syndrome, you may feel a pinching or aching sensation in your groin, front or side of your hip with squatting and rotating your leg in. You also might have reduced range of motion when you move your hip in these directions making squats, deadlifts and lunges hard! If your impingement is progressed, you may also get a lot of pain with prolonged sitting, walking and other activities of daily living.

Hip impingement does not happen overnight, in fact it can progress over the course of months or years with repetitive use and inflammation within the joint. The only way to accurately diagnose this condition is through an x-ray, but a PT can assess your hip and discern this issue from other issues that might be going on in the hip in order to guide treatment. ⠀

Another issue that can very closely resemble hip impingement is a labral tear. The labrum is a tough ring of cartilage that lines the hip socket. Damage to the labrum can happen with trauma, overuse, and poor mechanics over time. Hip impingement puts you at risk for a labral tear and even arthritis if left untreated due to the abnormal interaction between the femur and hip socket.

That is why it is so important to diagnose this issue early and learn ways to manage it through physical therapy in order to return to feeling your best without pain! Physical therapy for hip impingement emphasizes proper body mechanics, motor control, range of motion and joint mobility in order to maximize movement without pain.

There are also surgical options to reduce an impingement, but in general they have poor outcomes and a laundry list of side effects. ⠀

Glute strengthening and control is one of the best ways to reduce the impact of hip impingement and improve pain and overall function. The tricky thing about FAI is that if there is a true bony abnormality, PT is not going to take this away or “fix” this issue entirely. The really cool thing though that most people don’t understand is that once the pain and inflammation go down, you can totally live a normal pain free life with this issue in the majority of cases!

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If it sounds like hip impingement or a labral tear might be something you are struggling with, please schedule an appointment with one of our physical therapists to help you get your hip pain under control and get back to doing what you love!

Wildflower Physical Therapy & Wellness, LLC.

Indianapolis Physical Therapy