Hip Labral Tear
What is it?
A hip labral tear is an injury of the hip labrum. The labrum is the cartilage that lines the acetabulum (the hip socket in which the head of the femur or thigh bone sits). A Labrum’s job is to increase stability of your hip and allow smooth movement of the ball in the socket. When there is a tear in the labral cartilage, it can cause pain and discomfort in the hip area.
What is the cause?
A labral tear is rarely an injury that happens suddenly. Rather, it often occurs over time when an underlying problem with the hip joint puts additional strain on the labrum. Sometimes, a labral tear can be prompted by trauma from an accident or sports injury, a structural abnormality, or repetitive motion such as long-distance running. The most common cause of a labral tear is femoral acetabular impingement syndrome, which is a structural problem with the femur head (ball) or acetabulum (cup).Structural problems that people may be born with can cause labral tears too such as perthes disease and hip dysplasia.
Studies have shown 22% of athletes with groin pain have a labral tear, as well as 55% of patients with mechanical hip pain. Although, various studies have also shown that there is a high percentage of the population who have labral tears and no symptoms.
Signs & Symptoms
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Hip pain or groin pain
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Stiffness or limited range of motion in the hip joint
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A hip joint that locks, clicks or "catches"
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Aching with sitting
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a feeling of hip instability.
What can we do about it?
Our therapists at Sports and Spine Physiotherapy will be able to assess through a physical examination and your history diagnose a potential labral tear. Physiotherapy has been found to be effective in treating labral tears conservatively. A study conducted in 2019 found that out of 35 patients who received physiotherapy, 27 had successful results and were able to return to full activities without surgery. Physiotherapy for a hip labral tear includes working on hip stability, strengthening of the hip muscles, patient education, neuromuscular control and movement patterns, joint mobilisations, coordination/balance and mobility exercises.
Our main aim of treatment is reduction of pain and optimising function of the hip. Should there be no changes in pain or function after 12 weeks of Physiotherapy treatment, referral to a specialist is recommended.
Other treatment options that we can advise and work closely with your GP on are intra-articular steroid injections, oral analgesia or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or surgery. We’d highly encourage trialing conservative management first to see how much the injury can improve first. But we will not hesitate to refer you to a specialist where it is necessary.