Have you ever wondered why you hip maybe clicking? Is it normal? I’ve been asked this question a number of times recently so I thought I would write this blog post to inform everybody. I
see this quite a bit in clinic. It’s not uncommon for people to hear and feel a click, pop or clunk in one or both hips with movement. Most of the time it isn’t actually painful but is disconcerting…….so what is it? And is it bad?
There are two main things that can cause it.
Tight tendons or muscles ‘snapping’ ‘flicking’ and ‘clicking’ over the bony parts of your hip joint. – This is really common and is often painless. The two biggest offenders are your psoas muscle in your groin or your ITB (iliotibial band) on the outside of your hip.
A serious problem in your hip joint – like damage to your cartilage. It’s not that common particularly in young people and it is usually painful.
So is it bad?
If you have a serious problem in your hip joint then yes the reparative ‘clicking’ could be bad and causing further damage. If it is caused by ‘tight’ muscles snapping over bony bits ….. while it’s not that bad or necessary painful, it can lead to inflammation, bursitis and other problems at the hip in some people
The people who get “snapping hip syndrome’ the most are often dancers, athletes and people doing a lot of exercise or people that are using their hip flexors a lot in some way.
To know exactly what is going on in your hip and the cause of the ‘snap’ you need your hip properly assessed and diagnosed. Once we have examined your hip then we can work out exactly what is casing it and what to do about it.
In the majority of cases that we see the ‘clicking’ or ‘snapping’ is being caused by tight muscles. Osteopathy takes a global look at your body and movement to see how and why certain muscles have become this way …. Is it a repetitive movement you’re doing? Is it to do with your posture at work or when you are exercising?. Has your psoas become overly tight due to stiffness in your lower back? And so on…
Once we figure out how and why your muscles have become this way be can work out the best way to treat it.
We might release the tension in the muscles and use techniques to improve range of motion in parts of your body that are being affected by the increased tension in these muscles.
We will often prescribe you specific stretches or techniques designed to release tension in the problematic muscles. Foam rollers and massage balls can be very helpful with this
Help you understand and improve your technique or posture with a particular exercise or activity that you are doing
Sometimes no matter what the patient does they will never get rid of it. So long as they have had it investigated and ensure that there is no damage being caused to their joints by the activity that they are doing then they continue to move and ‘clunk’ ‘snap’ and ‘click’ their way through a yoga class.
Have you got a snapping hip? Or know someone who does? If you need to be moving better then come see us and we’ll get you moving again!
Call or Message us to book your appointment to find out how we can help today.
If you have pain in your hip or groin we can recommend a hip and groin support: