Hip Tendonitis: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention
Hip Tendonitis can cause a lot of trouble to the person experiencing it ranging from mild pain to an impairment of movement. But, do you know what Hip Tendonitis is? Let us explore it.
Tendonitis is also known with a name like Tendinitis and even with the name of Tendinopathy. It is the inflammation of the Tendon. Tendon is a structure which connects the muscle to the bone. There are Tendons in all the places in the body where there are muscles.
Tendon can get affected when you perform strenuous physical activities or overexert yourself, or you get injured due to some reasons. This can lead to Tendonitis or Tendon inflammation or swelling. If you strain your Hip Tendons, it can lead to Hip Tendonitis.
There are several muscles in our hip like Gluteus maximus, Gluteus minimus, Piriformis and Lateral Rotator muscles. Each of these muscles is attached to the Bones by Tendons. If they get inflamed due to any cause, it is called as Hip Tendonitis.
Hip Tendonitis Causes:
There are several causes of developing Hip Tendonitis. Some examples are:
Accidents:
If you ever meet an accident, any part of your body might get injured. If your hip muscles and tendons are damaged, you can develop Hip Tendonitis.
Excess physical strain:
We need to perform a physical activity within our limits or capabilities. If you overexert yourself beyond your capacity, it can harm your muscles and tendons, leading to tendonitis of various tendons, including Hip Tendonitis.
Participating in High-intensity exercise programs:
We need to get accustomed to exercise in a gradual manner. We should not resort to high-intensity exercise at once without getting used to regular intensity exercise at first. If you do high-intensity workout without prior experience or gradually increasing the intensity, it can hurt your tendons leading to Hip Tendonitis.
Participating in new sports:
Whenever you are participating in New sports, You need to take all the precautions to prevent injuries. You need to learn it slowly. If you don’t follow proper precautions, you might end up getting injured and developing Tendon injury as well.
Hip Tendonitis Symptoms:
Hip Tendonitis Can be really hurtful and trouble you a lot. Do you want to know what the symptoms of Hip Tendonitis are? Let us explore them:
Pain:
If you develop Hip Tendonitis, you might feel very uncomfortable and painful.
Pain on Touching:
You will also feel pain when we try to touch the tendons. This is called tenderness.
Feeling stiff:
The hip tendons become stiff in Hip Tendonitis. You feel that this problem is more noticeable in the early mornings after you wake up.
Decreased range of motion:
If Hip tendons are affected due to Hip Tendonitis, you feel it difficult to move the hips due to the pain and stiffness. This can lead to a reduced range of motion in the hips.
Discomfort:
It can be very uncomfortable to flex or extend the hip to perform any movement if you re suffering from Hip Tendonitis.
Hip Tendonitis Diagnosis:
In order to diagnose Hip Tendonitis, your physician will take a thorough history of causes and symptoms at first. Then he will do a proper physical examination to see all the findings or abnormalities. Then he might order some tests like X-ray or Magnetic Resonance Imaging he thinks they are necessary.
Hip Tendonitis Treatment:
There are several Treatment options available to get rid of the symptoms of Hip Tendonitis. Let us see them:
Rest:
You need to take adequate rest to facilitate the healing of the tendons which are inflamed or injured. Rest is utmost important to recover fast.
Cold compresses:
Cold compresses are very effective in getting rid of pain associated with the Hip Tendonitis. You can take a few ice cubes in a Ziploc bag. Then apply this bag as a cold compress over the affected Hip. You can do this for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, and repeat it several times a day.
Analgesics:
Analgesics tablets which are available over the counter or OTC like Ibuprofen, Diclofenac, etc. can also help in easing the pain associated with Hip Tendinitis. They also reduce the swelling or the inflammation as they belong to the group called NSAIDS or Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Local Ointments:
There are many NSAID ointments containing Ibuprofen, Ketoprofen, Diclofenac etc. in the market. You can apply them topically over the hip to get some relief.
Hot fomentation:
You can also apply a warm compress over the affected hip tendons to get relief from the pain and discomfort. It is equally effective like the cold compress.
Oil massage:
Take some Sesame oil and apply it over the Hip tendons or hips. Then massage gently for a few minutes. You can use warm oil for best results. This surely alleviates the pain associated with the Hip Tendonitis.
Avoiding strenuous activities:
As doing vigorous physical activity is the root cause f developing Hip Tendinitis, you need to avoid doing such activities entirely until you recover.
Exercises:
You can do some exercises to facilitate the stretching of the hip tendons and to help them recover. Some examples of such exercises include Straight leg raise, Adductor squeeze, Extending the hip, etc.
Hip Tendonitis Prevention:
There are several steps that you can take to prevent Hip Tendonitis. Few of them are:
- Do proper warm-up exercises and stretches before doing any exercises or workouts. This helps in avoiding any injury to the muscles and tendons.
- Be careful on the roads to avoid any accidents.
- Wear proper footwear to protect the foot, ankles and also the hips indirectly.
- Increase the intensity of the exercise gradually and don’t do high-intensity workouts suddenly without prior experience.
- If you want to do Gym workouts or lift weights, etc., take guidance from a Gym instructor and do it gradually over time.
- When you are participating in any new sports, take all the possible precautions to avoid injury to the muscles and tendons. This way you can prevent the development of Hip Tendinitis.
You have seen all the possible causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention options of Hip Tendinitis. I hope this article is helpful to you.