Snapping Hip Syndrome

Snapping hip syndrome (also called dancer's hip, coxa saltans, and iliopsoas tendinitis) is a snapping or clicking sensation and possible sound in the hip joint that may or may not cause pain. Your hip may also feel that your hip is unstable and may give out.

Snapping hip syndrome occurs when a tendon running along the front or side of the hip flexor pops or snaps over a bone. This occurs when the leg moves from flexion to extension with the iliopsoas, or hip flexor, muscle. Snapping hip syndrome can be divided into different types: external, internal or intra-articular, which depend on where the snap is occurring.

External

The most common occurance of snapping hip syndrome is over the greater trochanter at the top of the femur and is referred to as external clicking hip. During hip flexion, when the leg moves forward, the gluteus maximus contracts and the tendon is pulled over the greater trochanter along with the iliotibial tract (IT band). When the gluteus medius tendon or IT band thickens or frays, it is more likely to catch on the bone. Due to tightness over the trachanteric bursa and irritation in the area, trochanteric bursitis may also develop with this type of snapping hip syndrome.

Internal

This type of snapping hip is less common than external snapping hip syndrome. It occurs when the iliopsoas tendon snaps over the femoral head or iliopectineal eminence. With internal clicking there is a gradual onset over a few months before the clicking may become noticeable. Internal snapping hip syndrome may cause or be trigger by iliopsoas bursitis.

Intra-articular

Loose bodies in the hip joint or other tissue catching, like tissue from a labral tear, can cause intra-articular snapping hip syndrome. The labrum is a unique piece of cartilage that lines the inside of the hip socket. If it becomes damaged or torn, then it can cause a snap or pop in the hip joint itself as it moves.

Risks or Causes of Snapping Hip Syndrome

• Being between 15 and 40 years of age.
• Taking part in sports or activities involving repetitive hip flexion such as running, cheerleading, gymnastics, ballet, or soccer.
• Having tight IT bands, torn labrum or leg length discrepancy.

Treating Your Snapping Hip Syndrome

The treatment for snapping hip syndrome should focus on resting your hip and reducing inflammation to relieve pain.

Physical therapy can assist you in stretching the gluteus maximus tendon and IT band if they are tight. If the gluteus maximus tendon or iliotibial tract have thickened, frayed and/or become inflamed you can treat the injury to heal your tissue and repair the cause of you snapping hip syndrome. Treating the gluteus maximus tendon and IT band injury with cold compression, therapeutic ultrasound and blood flow stimulation therapy will reduce your pain and speed healing so you can alleviate the symptoms of snapping hip syndrome quickly. In most cases, these conservative therapies will heal your snapping hip syndrome.

In some severe cases of snapping hip syndrome, surgery may be required to trim the catching piece of labrum, remove a loose piece in the joint, or lengthen the tendon that is too tight. Using cold compression, ultrasound therapy and BFST^® before surgery will help to reduce the symptoms of pain and inflammation. This will make it easier for you to complete your everyday activities with less pain while you await your surgery.

In addition, these therapies will help to keep your hip joint tissue and surrounding muscles as healthy as possible. This is beneficial for 2 reasons. First, with less inflammation and healthier tissue in the joint, your surgery will be less invasive and will require less time to heal. More importantly, it will minimize your risk of suffering future hip conditions such as osteoarthritis, chronic hip pain, and trochanteric bursitis which is a common condition immediately following surgery due to irritation during the procedure. Following your surgery, continued use of these therapies will result in a faster recovery and more complete healing. There isn't a better way to treat your hip before and after arthroscopic surgery.

Freezie Wrap^® Cold Compression Therapy

To decrease inflammation and relieve the pain of snapping hip syndrome doctor's recommend cold compression therapy. Cold compression therapy within the first 72 hours of injury to the tendon or labrum or following surgery is an effective way to relieve pain and swelling. Cold compression therapy will also limit the amount of damage done to your tissue and can reduce, or even eliminate, the need for NSAIDs that can be harmful to your body.

The Back/Hip Freezie Wrap^® is the cold compression tool you need to treat your hip pain in an effective and convenient way. It is so versatile you can also use it to treat any pain you may be experiencing in your back or legs as well.

The Back/Hip Freezie Wrap^® uses a supercharged cooling gel pack, that chills in the fridge, not in the freezer like ice or other freezer packs, giving you deep cold therapy without the risk of 'cold burns' or cryoburn. The medical-grade wrap delivers cold right where you need it.

Cold compression therapy works by interrupting and slowing nerve and cell function in your tendon or hip joint. It also reduces swelling that can block blood vessels. This is important because once blood vessels are blocked or damaged, they can no longer carry oxygen and nutrients to the tissue in your hip joint and the cells begin to break-down. Without cold compression therapy, cellular break-down and tissue damage continues as the cells do not get the oxygen they need to survive.

By limiting the amount of damage done to your tissue, you limit the amount of healing that needs to occur. This is a very important step to heal your hip faster and with less pain!

Ultrasound Therapy

Ultrasound therapy is a great therapeutic option to decrease inflammation, pain and soft tissue damage. Therapeutic ultrasonic waves increase tissue elasticity while increasing blood flow to your acetabular joint. This relaxes the tension in your tendon and cleans the area by flushing away damaged tissue. It reduces the inflammation while opening up the blood vessels to begin healing.

Not only does ultrasound aid in the duration of healing, but it helps to prevent long term complications. Osteoarthritis, hip dislocation, chronic pain, reduced range of motion, and bursitis are some of the more common long term complications that can occur when hip injuries go untreated. By treating your IT band, iliopsoas tendon, or labral tear with ultrasound, scar tissue becomes softer and the other joint tissue becomes stronger reducing the risk of chronic problems in the future.

If you are experiencing pain in your back, knee, ankle or leg because of your sore hip, you can use therpeutic ultrasound to treat these areas as well. With hip injuries you often readjust your posture and gait to take the pressure off your sore side. This puts extra pressure on other parts of your body and can cause strain. Using a home ultrasound will allow you to treat all the areas that need to heal easily and help you maintain a healthier hip.

During the healing process, scar tissue builds up to 'repair' the damaged tissue. Unfortunately, scar tissue can bind the acetabular labrum, articular cartilage, tendons and other tissue together within the joint. The inflexible scar tissue limits the movement of these connective tissues that were once elastic and gave your hip its stability and range of motion. As a result, movement of the entire joint is limited making it difficult to rotate your hip and lift your leg.

If scar tissue is left untreated, your hip may stiffen making movement difficult and in some cases, impossible. At the very least, scar tissue leaves your hip joint weaker, leaving your hip at greater risk of further injury. Fortunately, you can treat your hip joint with MendMeShop^® Ultrasound to soften scar tissue and improve the motion and flexibility in your hip.

Ultrasound can also be used to administer therapeutic medicines into the body. This is a process known as phonophoresis. Ultrasound with phonophoresis is rapidly becoming more popular than ultrasound therapy alone.

MendMeShop^® ultrasound therapy with phonophoresis is safe, convenient, and easy and requires 10 minutes per treatment. It is based on a form of deep tissue therapy, which is generated through high frequency sound waves (that we can not hear). These waves send micro vibrations into your body and carry medicated molecules within the ultrasound gel deep into your soft tissue to enhance your ultrasound therapy. Ultrasound waves and medicated ultrasound gel penetrate deep to relax your muscles, decrease inflammation and accelerate your recovery rate, so you can return to your daily activities as soon as possible.

Using MendMeShop^® Lavender Infusion Ultrasound Gel during your ultrasound therapy gives you 2 therapies in 1. You get the benefit of the regenerating sound waves from the ultrasound device itself AND the added bonus of the therapeutic ingredients inside the gel being delivered into your hip where it is most effective. 1 FREE bottle of MendMeShop^® Lavender Infusion Ultrasound Gel comes with every MendMeShop^® Ultrasound Therapy System and it contains the therapeutic essential oils of natural Bulgarian lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, and menthol.

Once the inflammation in your hip has been reduced, nourishing and strengthening your hip, lower back, upper leg and surrounding tissue is recommended. Using blood flow stimulation therapy will speed your recovery and heal your tendon, IT band, or acetabular labrum more completely preparing it for strengthening exercises. Talk to your doctor or physical therapist to find out which exercises are appropriate for your situation.

Inferno Wrap^® Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy

After severe inflammation and swelling is reduced you can begin to treat your hip with blood flow stimulation therapy. BFST^® increases the amount of blood that flows naturally to your hip to nourish your joint and speed healing.

The acetabular joint naturally receives a limited blood supply and when you stop moving your hip because it hurts the blood flow is reduced even further, limiting your body's natural ability to heal itself.

By treating your hip joint with BFST^® you can increase your body's blood supply to the hip and increase your body's natural healing power.

An Inferno Wrap^® is the tool you need to treat your sore hip because it speeds healing and relaxes the surrounding muscles. With BFST^®, tissues are safely and gently stimulated. Your body responds with a rapid increase in blood flow to the area, increasing the supply of oxygen and nutrients to injured tissue cells to promote healing. The Back/Hip Inferno Wrap^® from MendMeShop^® provides effective, non-invasive, non-addictive pain relief and healing with no side effects.

In addition, the improved blood flow helps reduce the risk of atrophy in your muscles. When you stop moving your leg and hip due to pain, your muscles and other tissue can become weaker and dead cells and toxins in the area can cause further tissue deterioration - this can lead to atrophy in your quadriceps, hamstrings and other leg muscles. The Back/Hip Inferno Wrap^® can also be used to treat your back, leg and other body parts with BFST^®. It is an amazing healing tool that can be used to treat your entire body.

By clearing the area of toxins and increasing the amount of oxygen and nutrients to your muscle and tendon tissue, the risk of atrophy (muscle weakness and/or deterioration) is greatly reduced. Keeping your upper leg and hip joint tissue as healthy as possible throughout the healing process will allow you to improve hip strength again once the pain from snapping hip syndrome has gone and your iliopsoas tendon, IT band, or labrum has healed.

With these 3 easy-to-use, pain-free, home therapies from MendMyHip, pain is significantly reduced, tissue heals faster, and there's an incredible improvement in the range of motion of your hip. The more diligent you are with your treatment and rehabilitation, the faster you will see successful results!

We've helped thousands of people treat their painful injuries and conditions to get them back on the road to a pain-free life!

Our customers have tried other common hip treatments, such as cortisone injections, pain killers, physical therapy, NSAIDs, and simply staying off their feet to give their hip the rest it needs, all without lasting results - until they found our incredible therapies! In addition, our customers include physicians, professional athletes, sports trainers and coaches, physical therapists, and nurses. These professionals rely on products from MendMyHip to treat their patients, players, and themselves. Click here to read more about their experience with MendMyHip!

Please be aware that this information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider before using any of our outstanding products to make sure they're right for you and your condition or if you have any questions regarding a medical condition. It is recommended that you see your doctor for a proper diagnosis as there are many injuries and conditions that could be the cause of your pain.

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