Tips & Techniques

3 Stretches for hip Impingement in the Athlete

Abby Schenk 
 • 
April 26, 2021
3 Stretches for hip Impingement in the Athlete

Hip impingement, also known as femoral acetabular impingement, can be present with or without a labral tear.  Most individuals who suffer from hip impingement complain of pain with squatting, lunging, running, and sitting.  The most common area of complaint is in the front of the hip and thigh.  Sometimes this can be misdiagnosed as a hip flexor strain or tendinitis due to the origin of pain. Most individuals will complain of the hip pinching at end range flexion (i.e. marching), intermittent referral into the quadriceps, sharp pain with planting and twisting on the hip, occasional catching or popping, and often a deep ache in the joint.

 

Structurally what happens with hip impingement is the femoral head (also known as the ball of the femur) pinches up when moving in the acetabulum (also known as the cup or socket where the ball sits inside).  This can lead to degenerative labral tearing.  The labrum is a ring of cartilage that surrounds the outside rim of the cup of the hip joint socket/acetabulum.  Over time the pinching of these two bones with or without labral tearing can cause arthritis or a deformity of the shape of the bony part of the ball of the femur.  Ultimately this leads to stiffness.  To assist in the stiffness and prevent labral tearing and bony deformity, the hip must relearn how to move properly within the pelvis to eliminate the pinching.

 

There are some great stretches to assist in opening of the hip to decrease the pinching of the ball and socket.  You must be careful not to overdo stretching as this can lead to more compression of the joint if forcing end range to pain.  It is important to focus on stretching the hip internal rotators and the posterior capsule or back part of the hip joint.  We want to avoid any pain or pinch in the front of the hip when performing these stretches below.

 

Watch Abby’s YouTube Video on her 3 favorite stretches to limit hip pain secondary to hip impingement.

 

 

 

Meet the Author
Abby graduated with her doctorate in Physical Therapy from the St. Francis University in 2013. Since graduation she has been spending her time advancing her manual and professional skills through additional certifications. Her vision is to be able to offer elite services to her patients through spending quality one on one time in order to education, specify individualized therapy sessions, and make a greater long-term impact by creating adaptable changes. Her mission is to refine the physical therapy experience by creating a path of recovery unique to each and above the standard of care. Abby ran cross-country, track, and was on the high school swim team. She went on to run cross-country and track in college and was All- American, and captain. She loves working with the fitness athlete, the collegiate athlete, and the active adult population because she understands personally what it feels like to be both on the injury and recovery side. Abby understands life happens and the body gets tired of our daily poor movement habits, however her intention is to prevent injuries from interfering with your health and fitness goals. Her mission is to empower her patients to be their very best self and move freely without pain or restraints. The outcome is accelerated healing by providing the highest level of skilled services for each patient’s needs. Combining a patient’s dedication, higher level sport-specific conditioning, and movement re-training, the result will be the best you. Some of Abby’s advanced training includes: Rock tape and Certified Rock Blades Technique Specialist, Blood Flow Restriction Certified, CrossFit Level 1 Trainer, Myofascial Decompression, Myofascial Release, Pose Certified Running Technique Specialist, amongst other advanced education.
You were made to move!
SCHEDULE A VISIT
chevron-downmenu-circle