What You Can Do For Hip Flexor Pain

Your hip flexors are made up of a group of muscles around the hip and pelvis. They are essential for everyday mobility, but are also a vital muscle group for most athletes. Your hip flexor muscles can become painful due to a range of issues such as overuse from poor biomechanics and movement patterns or strain of the muscles themselves. 

Hip Flexor Muscle Strain

Hip flexor strains can happen during activities such as kicking a football, cycling or sprinting fast. If you haven’t warmed up properly before performing these movements, there is a greater chance of getting a hip flexor muscle strain. There are 3 levels of strain that dictate the types of treatments City Physiotherapy can provide:

• Grade 1 (Mild) – Some stretching and microscopic tears have occurred in the muscle fiber which causes some pain but the hip functions normally.
• Grade 2 (Moderate) – Stretching and tears in muscle fiber which cause pain. This may cause the hip to periodically give out while standing or walking.
• Grade 3 (Severe) – The muscle fibers are completely torn or ruptured and the hip can no longer support movement.

A hip flexor strain will initially feel like a sharp pain or pull at the front of your hip or groin region. Most often, the strain will be minor with only a small amount of pain present allowing you to keep playing a sport or running. If it’s a severe strain, the pain will be quite severe, your hip flexor may spasm and then feel weak and you won’t be able to continue playing or running.

If you have a hip flexor strain lifting your knee towards your chest will be painful, as will activities such as running, kicking or walking upstairs. Often the pain may linger and your hip can feel stiff after you have tried to perform any of these aggravating movements. Some other signs or symptoms of hip flexor pain may be:

• pain in the hip or groin 
• tenderness, weakness or spasming when walking or walking on an incline e.g. stairs
• restricted range of motion in whole or part of the hip
• pulling sensation in the hip or groin area 
• bruising in the hip area
• muscle spasms
• a limp while walking
• a visible muscle deformity

Your hip flexor muscles are a group of muscles at the front of your hip. Your hip flexor muscles are responsible for moving your knee towards your chest. When there is too much tension placed on your hip flexor muscles some or all of the muscle fibres may tear.

Hip Flexors and your Biomechanics

Poor movement control, which is a product of some muscles being underactive and some muscles being overactive, can also produce hip flexor pain. For example, if you squat incorrectly, hip flexor pain can develop due to a weakness in your gluteal muscles and tightness in your hip flexor muscles. If you can’t stay upright during a deep squat this indicates a lack of gluteal (buttock) strength and tightness in your anterior hip flexors.

Your hip flexors are also affected by too much sitting and will tighten up if you don’t move out of a seated position for hours or stretch them out regularly.

At City Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Clinic we will assess your injury and your biomechanics so that we can address the cause of your pain.

Hip Flexor Strain Treatment

The best solution to many types of hip pains or strains is, of course, physiotherapy. Your professional Physiotherapist at City Physio will perform a variety of treatment techniques to address your specific hip pain issues. These may include: 

• soft tissue massage of tight structures
• low back and hip joint mobilisation
• hip and groin stretches’
• dry needling
• ice or heat treatment
• advice regarding anti-inflammatory medication
• exercises to improve your hip strength and range of movement
• education
• biomechanical correction and;
• a graded return to sports programme

If you have suffered from hip flexor strain in the past or simply want to avoid it, make sure you adequately stretch your muscles before any kind of exercise. You can also try some strengthening exercises to decrease your chance of strain. 

Need Help?

For hip flexor treatment or advice, come and see us at City Physiotherapy. Our experienced physiotherapists can help to diagnose and treat hip pain to provide long term relief. If you are experiencing unbearable pain or have had a fall please seek medical advice or call 000. 

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