Hip Flexor Strain
he hip flexors are a group of muscles toward the front of the hip. They allow the body to move and flex the legs and knee up towards itself. In sports, hip flexors are essential to athletes as they help enhance core stability, prevent muscle imbalance, and increase flexibility. In this article, Evan explores hip flexor strains and how to prevent them.
Causes
When using your hip flexors in exercises, sudden movements, such as sprinting, kicking, and changing direction while running, can stretch and tear the hip flexors. Runners, martial artists, football players, soccer players, and hockey players are at most risk of receiving this injury. Other causes to hip flexor strains can be weak muscles, stiff muscles, not warming up, or falling.
Symptoms
When dealing with a hip flexor strain, there may be a sudden pop in the front of the hip with muscle spasms. A hip flexor strain can be categorized into three grades.
Grade 1: A mild strain in the hip with a slight pull and tiny tearing. Typically, there shouldn’t be a loss of strength.
Grade 2: A moderate strain with tearing in the fibers of the tendons in the body. The tendon usually elongates and there is a loss of muscle strength.
Grade 3: A severe strain with a full tear of the tendon. This is a rare occurrence.
When dealing with a hip flexor strain, some common symptoms can be weakness in the hip and tenderness and swelling in the hip
Treatment
Upon first receiving the injury, it is advised to rest and stop any activities causing the pain. Gentle stretching to help with the recovery process, and an ice bag wrapped in cloth should be applied for around 20 minutes. If pain is unbearable, it is okay to take anti-inflammatory medicine, such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn) or acetaminophen (Tylenol), to reduce swelling and pain.
In order to prevent a hip flexor strain in the first place, it is important to properly warm-up and stretch before practice or competition. More importantly, using proper sports technique and maintaining good hip and thigh flexibility may significantly reduce chances of contracting a hip flexor strain.
Sources
https://sirc.ca/blog/hip-flexors-why-they-shouldnt-be-overlooked/
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000682.htm
https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/conditions/sports-medicine-hip-flexor-strain