Does your hip click when you move? Maybe you spent a little extra time behind your desk and instead of standing up with ease, you felt like the front of your hip was unpeeling itself like tape off a box? I can tell you, you’re not alone. Snapping hip syndrome is one of the most common issues we treat in our office plaguing people from dancers to firefighters. If you’ve been reading that your solutions are stop or surgery, trust us when we say snapping hip syndrome is often harmless. In some cases, it can cause pain, discomfort, and interfere with your daily activities. Understanding what’s really going on can help you find relief and prevent further complications. Let’s understand why your hips click, typical treatments, and go over some snapping hip syndrome exercises.
Why Do My Hips Click?
Snapping Hip Syndrome is a condition where you feel a clicking hip joint or snapping sensation when you move your hip. This condition is also referred to as Coxa Saltans. The clicking hip can be caused 2 different ways. There is internal snapping hip and external snapping hip syndrome. Let’s explore the differences between the two:
Internal Snapping Hip
- This is caused by bones and cartilage not moving well together. We usually think of this when we talk about labrum tears, arthritis, and floating pieces of bone. These issues are typically caused by overuse, traumatic injury, or abnormally shaped bones.
External Snapping Hip
- Caused by the shortening of muscles surrounding the joint, they make your hip unable to move through its proper range of motion. Muscles that are usually the cause include your hip flexors, the iliopsoas tendon, IT band, gluteus maximus, and glute medius. This is typically caused by overuse, not stretching/mobilizing the joint, and sedentary lifestyles. Sitting for long periods of time (at a desk or on the couch) causes the front of your hip to be in a shortened position.
How to Fix Snapping Hip Syndrome
So what do we do? There are a few different ways to treat this issue, some of which are more drastic than others. Before we get too into those, we believe that educating yourself on the subject is incredibly important. By understanding there are 2 potential causes you’re already one step ahead! There’s a lot of limited information out there about how you can treat this diagnosis. When searching, most of your options are to stop doing whatever activity is bothering you or surgery. We understand that in some instances surgery is the best and necessary, however it isn’t your only option. Neither is to just stop living your life!
Types of Treatment For Snapping Hip Syndrome can include a combination of:
- Ice
- Stretching
- Snapping Hip Syndrome Exercises
- Oral Anti Inflammatories
- Steroid shots
- Surgery
To rule out internal issues, it’s important to receive the proper imaging. If you’ve received an X-ray and MRI and there aren’t any damages to the area, it’s almost certain that your issue is external snapping hip. That means you should be able to resolve it without shots and surgery, but by improving the overall mobility of the joint. Doing snapping hip syndrome exercises for mobility will relieve your external snapping hip symptoms. We have even seen them relieve internal symptoms as well.
If there are internal damages it’s important to discuss all options with your doctor. Receiving shots into your joints reduces the integrity of the tendons and ligaments that surround them. They become weaker and fragile making them easier to rupture or fray if you do need surgery later. If you’re prompted to get this type of treatment make sure you exhaust your other options first.
Make sure you check out this week’s video! There is a deep dive on the anatomy of the hip to help you understand more of what we just talked about!
Stop the Clicking with these Snapping Hip Syndrome Exercises:
LIke many musculoskeletal issues we face daily, the issues we have seem to happen overnight. The hard truth is it took time for these issues to actually show. We have a tried and true set of exercises that have helped people fix their snapping hip syndrome again and again, but it takes dedication and commitment. Stick to this routine and it will get better!
Watch This Video all about Snapping Hips:
If you or a loved one is suffering with snapping hip syndrome, don’t wait to speak to a trusted professional about your condition. We hope you try these exercises and if you want to share how these helped you, tag us on social media with an update of how your hips are!
Our Amazing Athletes
Alex Rose is a 2 time Olympic competitor competing this Sunday in the Stockholm Diamond League. The Diamond League is a series of elite track and field competitions where Alex will be throwing discus for Samoa. One of the most distinguished honors he has had through his athletic career is being the flag bearer at the 2022 Tokyo Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Good luck this weekend!
Watch this VIDEO of when Alex made history last year!
Hips Feeling Off?
It’s normal! Every now and again as active people we need to reset and recalibrate. If you’ve tried our hip primer and didn’t see results, perhaps you need something a little more. Buy MDRx Hip. It can get you feeling back to even in just a few short weeks!
