Essay On Hip Flexor Strain

Hip flexors are a group of muscles located in your hips that assist you in moving your leg or knee upwards toward your body. It is located at the meeting point of the thigh and hip. When the fibers of these muscles are stretched or torn, it is called a hip flexor strain. Someone who is suffering from a hip flexor strain will experience a sudden or sharp pain located in the front of their hip or their groin area, indicated by the red circles in the photo to the right. This pain will occur when they are walking, running, or going up a flight of stairs. They will commonly struggle to walk without limping and may notice muscle spasms or weakness. In more severe cases, a hip flexor strain may come with moderate swelling or even visible bruising.
There are three different levels of a hip flexor strain. A diagram of the three gradients of a strain is shown in the photo to the left. In a grade one strain, only a few of the fibers are torn or stretched, causing minimal pain. Someone with a simple grade one strain can almost definitely continue their life at afull level of function. A grade two strain means that a significant amount of the fibers in the hip flexor are torn and this person will be experiencing much more intense pain, along with a moderate loss of function. When a grade three strain occurs, this means that all fibers in the hip flexor are torn causing severe pain and a very significant loss of function. There is not a single clear cut cause of a hip flexor strain, but there are many possible causes and other factors that contribute to the odds of the injury. The most common cause is overuse, which is typically a gradual injury that happens over a longer period of time. This can occur in any sport or activity, but is commonly seen in sports with frequent kicking or excessive sprinting, such as soccer. Another common cause is a sudden contraction of the hip flexor muscles, this occurs with very explosive movements like coming out of blocks as a sprinter. There are other factors that contribute to the injury, but are not the direct cause of a hip flexor strain, these include: muscle tightness or weakness, inadequate warm up or stretching, fatigue, and inadequate rehab from a previous strain (Hip Flexor Strain). Athletes are far more than likely to be able to return from this injury without much of a problem if they follow rehabilitation procedures.
The process of curing a hip flexor strain depends directly on the severity of the injury. A grade three strain, or completely torn muscle, will more than likely require surgery, along with six to eight weeks of rehabilitation. A less severe strain, like a grade one or two strain, can be fixed with strengthening exercises, such as the exercise shown in the picture to the right, stretching, and proper rehabilitation. Resistance bands are very popular in every kind of rehabilitation, especially with muscle injuries. Recovery from a moderate strain such as this would take anywhere from one week to one month (Grade 2: Hip Flexor Muscle Strain - Muscle Pull). Again, the amount of recovery time depends solely on the severity of the strain. The best way to cure a hip flexor strain is rest, although continued activity is definitely possible. However, it is very smart to change up the type of activity until the pain subsides. If there is severe pain when running, for example, swimming would be a good alternative until the strain is healed. Another way to heal a strained hip flexor is stretching. There are several specific stretches that are designed to stretch and strengthen the damaged fibers to make this less likely to happen again. One example of a popular hip flexor stretch is shown to the left. Although this injury typically comes with a
pretty quick recovery, there is still pain through the recovery process. To help relieve this pain while you are going through rehabilitation, it is almost always recommended to heat before physical activity. The heat will aid in the warming up and relaxing of the injured muscles to prevent further injury. After physical activity, icing your hip will prevent or lessen the swelling. Another way to help with the pain is to take over the counter pain medications such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen (Summit Medical Group - Hip Flexor Strain). When returning back to full-time participation in your sport, it is common to use a brace or wrap that aides your hip muscles in pulling your leg forward when walking, running, or kicking. An example of one of these braces can be seen on the right. You should continue to use heat and ice when returning until all soreness is gone. While this is not a deadly or career-threatening injury, it is by no means desirable. There are many precautions that you can take to avoid a hip flexor strain. One of the biggest things that is recommended to prevent a strain in your hip flexor is a proper stretch and warm-up. Warming up and stretching can become repetitive and boring, but it is vital to prevent injuries, especially in your muscles. Also, it is important to be proactive and ice as soon as you begin to feel pain.