Hip impingement syndrome, or femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is when the hip joint rubs abnormally causing damage to the hip joint. This can affect your hip range of motion, and can also cause hip pain and hip weakness.
It can also cause damage to the hip cartilage, also known as the labral cartilage. This can happen often in young athletes and runners. If you don’t see much improvement with stretches and exercises, check back in with your doctor for a possible labral tear.
Stretching all the muscles around the hip area is very important. These muscles include the hamstrings, IT band, quad muscles, glutes, piriformis muscle, and groin muscles. By getting more flexibility around the hip area, you not only relieve pressure on the hip joint, but you also can help reduce the abnormal wearing on the joint which will help reduce the hip pain.
Strengthening the muscles around the hip will also help reduce hip impingement pain. Some great hip impingement exercises are a four way hip routine lying down. This includes hip flexion, hip adduction, hip extension, and hip abduction. They help keep the hip strong. Finally a clamshell exercise will help strengthen your hip abductor muscles including the gluteus medius, which is very important in hip stability and walking.
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