Hip flexor pain when squatting

professorRAT

I am having very similar issues. MRI revealed several disc bulges, etc. Nerve irritation in my spine (around T10-11) is causing chronic muscle spasms and pulling on my hip (also referring pain to my hip area). So yeah, it could well be a nerve impingement issue. Talk to your doctor again!

CoachDreesTraining

Oops...diagnose*


Foam rolling and some glute activation exercises should help!

Foam rolling and glute activation exercises are not going to do anything for FAI. Both cam and pincer FAI are pathomorphologies of bone shape.

I'm not suggesting that foam rolling and glute activation is going to reverse anything, but it will HELP stop the progression and relieve pain.

The femur isn't traveling properly which causes the pinching sensation during internal rotation and flexion. Stabilizing the hip should give the head of the femur some more room to travel, at the bottom of the squat.

While I'm sure some people have a disposition for FAI, I believe 90% of it is a result of poor hip position.

weese17

Thanks for the great replies, everyone.

I have an appt. in 2 weeks w/ an orthopedic / sports med doctor who specializes in hips, and his site specifically mentions FAI. Gotta love living in a major metro area sometimes - so many specialists nearby! I'll cross my fingers.

jaweiss1

The femur isn't traveling properly which causes the pinching sensation during internal rotation and flexion. Stabilizing the hip should give the head of the femur some more room to travel, at the bottom of the squat.

FAI is due to contact between the femoral neck and the acetabular rim, and the pain is caused by crushing or pinching of the acetabular labrum. You cannot make more room for hip flexion by stabilizing the hip. FAI symptoms in deep hip flexion (bottom of the squat) are due to this impingement. People with FAI should avoid deep squatting and other activities that elicit pain, as the pain is due to labral deformation. Repeated deep squatting will result in labral tears and eventually cartilage delamination around the periphery of the acetabulum.

CoachDreesTraining

The femur isn't traveling properly which causes the pinching sensation during internal rotation and flexion. Stabilizing the hip should give the head of the femur some more room to travel, at the bottom of the squat.

FAI is due to contact between the femoral neck and the acetabular rim, and the pain is caused by crushing or pinching of the acetabular labrum. You cannot make more room for hip flexion by stabilizing the hip. FAI symptoms in deep hip flexion (bottom of the squat) are due to this impingement. People with FAI should avoid deep squatting and other activities that elicit pain, as the pain is due to labral deformation. Repeated deep squatting will result in labral tears and eventually cartilage delamination around the periphery of the acetabulum.

You should of spent more time searching Google before posting this...

http://posturalrestoration.com/media/pdfs/Hip_Impingement_2.pdf
http://www.ericcressey.com/hip-pain-in-athletes-the-origin-of-femoroacetabular-impingement
http://www.pureperformancetraining.com/blog/FAI

jaweiss1

You should of spent more time searching Google before posting this...

http://posturalrestoration.com/media/pdfs/Hip_Impingement_2.pdf
http://www.ericcressey.com/hip-pain-in-athletes-the-origin-of-femoroacetabular-impingement
http://www.pureperformancetraining.com/blog/FAI

To be clear, coach, my knowledge does not come from google. I have a PhD in bioengineering, and my research is focused on musculoskeletal biomchanics. Part of my research targets the study of the biomechanics of hip pathology. I also happen to have FAI.

http://mrl.sci.utah.edu/

Best of luck trying to correct skeletal deformities with foam rolling and glute activation exercises.

CoachDreesTraining

You should of spent more time searching Google before posting this...

http://posturalrestoration.com/media/pdfs/Hip_Impingement_2.pdf
http://www.ericcressey.com/hip-pain-in-athletes-the-origin-of-femoroacetabular-impingement
http://www.pureperformancetraining.com/blog/FAI

To be clear, coach, my knowledge does not come from google. I have a PhD in bioengineering, and my research is focused on musculoskeletal biomchanics. Part of my research targets the study of the biomechanics of hip pathology. I also happen to have FAI.

http://mrl.sci.utah.edu/

Best of luck trying to correct skeletal deformities with foam rolling and glute activation exercises.

Thank you. Good luck with your research.

fishlover888

My 2 cents for the FAI discussion (getting my Doctor of Physical Therapy in August) -

Agree with you jaweiss that you can't correct skeletal deformities without surgery. However having treated a lot of patients with FAI, snapping hip, and hip flexor tendonitis (all of which the OP could have, hard to tell without physical exam), there are definitely ways to decrease pain and improve function. Myofascial release such as foam roller and glut activation could help, tho I would recommend a more individualized program based on specific impairments (strength, myofascial restrictions, tendonitis, etc). Surgery, for true correction of skeletal deformities, is usually the very last option in my book based on the long and highly restricted recovery.

Also OP just clinical experience/personal experience wise I have noticed a link between pelvic alignment problems and aggravation of FAI. It's possible that your glute tightness is causing an alignment problem, sacral or iliac, which is aggravating present FAI symptoms. It's also possible if you have an FAI or an alignment problem, that is causing the tight glute Kind of a chicken or egg thing there.

Anyway OP glad you are seeing a specialist, hopefully it all works out for you and you can get back to squatting soon! Just FYI if it is FAI and you end up considering surgical options, it is a very long recover time so make sure you talk to your physician about all of that. Some of my patients still come in surprised that they have to be on crutches for months. Update us after your appointment!

weese17

Hi all:

I thought I'd post a follow-up.

I saw the orthopedic surgeon today about my hip pain, and it turns out that I have hip impingement (FAI) and labral tears in BOTH hips. Essentially, I have bony growths in both hip sockets that are keeping the head of my femur from operating normally, and this has led to a gradual wearing-down of the cartilage in the socket as well as the tears in the cartilage. Today's appointment was just the very first step in diagnosis (via x-ray) - next step is an arthorgram with injection to get more information on the exact state of the situation in my hips. Ultimately, though, the only way to fix these problems is via surgery. I will have to get the tears repaired and the bone filed down.

If anybody has experience with this sort of surgery, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks!

keeponkickin

I have FAI and labral tears in both hips. I had a regular MRI and then a MRA. I'm having surgery on the left hip in a couple of weeks. Doc said a long rehab of about 4 to 6 months on each side.

keeponkickin

You should of spent more time searching Google before posting this...

http://posturalrestoration.com/media/pdfs/Hip_Impingement_2.pdf
http://www.ericcressey.com/hip-pain-in-athletes-the-origin-of-femoroacetabular-impingement
http://www.pureperformancetraining.com/blog/FAI

To be clear, coach, my knowledge does not come from google. I have a PhD in bioengineering, and my research is focused on musculoskeletal biomchanics. Part of my research targets the study of the biomechanics of hip pathology. I also happen to have FAI.

http://mrl.sci.utah.edu/

Best of luck trying to correct skeletal deformities with foam rolling and glute activation exercises.

^^^ THIS ^^^

delicious_cocktail

I am told that OP had surgery on her right hip today to address the diagnosed FAI.

Surgery went very well, doctor rectified the minor bone deformity and the comparatively extensive tissue damage.

Surgery was a little under two hours, outpatient, and OP will be on crutches for four weeks. Total recovery (to lets say 80 or 90%) will be on the order of three months. At which point OP will return to have left hip repaired.

CoderGal

I've been lifting for about a year, but only started squatting heavy multiple times a week (Stronglifts) back in January. So perhaps this is an overuse injury, but I'm looking for info/experience in case it's a matter of form/flexibility or something else entirely.

Anyway! I'm having sharp hip flexor pain during squats. The pain is significant, and it's there whether I do front, goblet, BB or even bodyweight squats, normal or sumo squat, parallel or ATG. I'm extremely flexible - hypermobile, in fact - so it's not a matter of my calves/ankles/hips lacking a full ROM. I have changed my stance several times over the course of the last few months, trying to find the position that will allow me maximum glute activation since I'm naturally more hamstring-dominant. I've been very conservative with the weight progression - currently lifting 60kgs for 5x5 in a wide sumo stance.

I was having some back pain that I thought was twisted vertebrae, but when I saw my PT about it two days ago, she said that my right glute was extremely tight and that it was causing a chain reaction of tightness up my spine. I'm wondering if this is somehow related to the hip flexor pain, since it's all in the same area and both problems started around the same time.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

thoughts: Scary I'm also extremely flexible but find weird pains in places when doing squats. Took a while off weighted squats and was all gah I'm getting nowhere but I'm kind of thankful I did right now after reading this post. They're feeling a lot better now, but at the same time, it's another good reason to be cautious! Thanks for sharing and bump for the flexible ones that may have similar problems.

tatasmagik

This thread is full of awesome geekery (I studied forensic anthropology in college and totally nerd out over bones).

Good luck to the OP, thanks for the update.

SueSlick

Whew!!! that's a long recovery time! Thanks for the update...glad it went well!

Barbellgirl

Tagging for later reading.