
Snapping Hip Syndrome
This is a general term that refers to a hip that clicks or “snaps”. Often the patient hears or feels a snapping sound in the hip while swinging their legs, running, walking or while getting up from the chair. The cause for the clicking can arise from inside the joint, such as a labral tear or loose piece of cartilage, or can arise from outside the joint due to tightness of the muscles or tendons flicking over the hip joint and causing a click. Symptoms include snapping sensation over the upper, outer part of the hip caused by a tight iliotibial band. Or an audible snapping or popping noise in the groin when flexing the hip (knee toward waist) or extending (knee down and hip joint straightened ) it.
Treatment: If the snapping is caused by the psoas tendon or iliotibial band then tendon stretching exercises will be recommended depending on the type of snapping you experience. If its accompanied by bursitis then a corticosteroid injection may be given to help reduce the pain and inflammation. For labral tears, treatment with a hip arthroscopy can be used to repair or trim the tear and is usually successful in curing the problem