The most common hip flexor injury and how to prevent it

The most common hip flexor injury and how to prevent it - Fitness Health

 

 The human body is just like a machine. It is packed with intricate details and arrangements. Muscles and bones are linked together and aligned in a perfect order with maximum strength and endurance. However, sometimes this perfect machinery becomes affected by various factors like age, infections, fractures or accidents. Thus, the human body fails to perform efficiently. In such cases, an effective therapy is essential to treat these injuries.


What is Hip Flexor Injury?
Hip flexor muscles are a group of muscles towards the front of hip. They connect your thigh bone to your lower back. These muscles help in flexion movements like lifting knees or bending downwards. A slight wear and tear or inflammation in these muscles can hence lead to serious complications.

Hip flexor strain is an injury common in athletes and runners. It is due to the overuse of the hip muscles in exercises, sprinting or running. As a result, the tendons become sore and inflamed. Wear and tear of hip flexor muscles causes damage to the muscle fibre which may become painful for the patient.


Symptoms
Majority of people today are suffering from common hip flexor problems but have no clue on how to diagnose this injury. Since the muscles are linked with your thigh, lower back and the hip region- hence aching of these body parts may suggest being prone to hip flexor injuries.
Common symptoms of hip flexor injuries involve:

  • Pain while performing any activity in the hip or pelvis region (e.g. difficulty in walking or getting out of a chair)
  • A feeling of clenched muscles in your upper region of leg. This may be accompanied by cramps.
  • Inability to kick, jump or run. Strenuous exercises induce more pain.
  • Extreme discomfort in lower back. It causes inability to bend and lift heavy objects.
  • Pain radiating from lower back to thighs
  • Swelling or redness around the hip region. It may be due to inflammation of muscles.

 

Treatment
Thus, if you experience the above-mentioned symptoms, it indicates that you are susceptible to common hip flexor strain. It is advised to consult a doctor or physiotherapist immediately.
Diagnosis of the injury at the right time is beneficial because you can take necessary steps for the eradication of your disease. A few of these treatment methods can come in handy for unbearable pain and discomfort.

  • Maximum rest is the best solution to relieve muscle pain. Avoid all sorts of laborious activities and adjust your routine to relax your hip muscles.

  • Home treatments prove to be effectual for most hip flexor injuries. Apply an icepack for 10-15 minutes on the affected muscles to reduce the soreness. It will lessen the irritation in the inflamed tendons and soothe them.

  • Discontinue any sprinting or running activities because such exercises put a greater load on the muscles. Always warm up before exercising and maintain a healthy posture.

  • Hire a personal physiotherapist who will suggest commendable and pain-free exercises. Such exercises will reduce the strain on your hip flexors. In addition, they increase flexibility and rigidity of muscles.

  • For relieving pain immediately, it is advisable to use pain killer medicines. Ibuprofen, Panadol, Advil are suitable tablets that act as pain relievers. However, do not take over doses of these medicines without consulting your doctor.

  • If the cases of hip flexor injuries become acute and critical, then you might need to undergo a surgery of the hip region. A CT scan of the affected area will help doctors diagnose the actual problem. The surgery will then be scheduled to repair the tears in the muscles.

 

Hip flexor strains, although very common among people, are rarely a cause of concern. Some hip injuries heal within 1-2 weeks while other serious ones may take up to 6 weeks. Consult your physiotherapist and doctor in time to avoid any complications. At the end of the day, you need to stand up for your body. You need to safeguard your body. And treasure it. Because without a healthy body, we are simply parts of a rusted machinery. And trust me, such machineries never last for long.

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