Hip Impingement

Hip Impingement Treatment in Kansas City, MO

What is Hip Impingement?

Hip impingement, also called femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), happens when the femoral head, which is the ball of the hip, pinches up against the acetabulum, the cup of the hip. When this happens, the cartilage around the acetabulum, called the labrum, can get damaged, which can make the hip stiff and painful and can lead to arthritis.

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Types of Hip Impingement

There are three types of FAI, which include:

  • Cam – A deformity in the femoral head, or ball, has a more oval than round shape to it, which creates friction when the ball hits the edge of the cup in the joint
  • Picer – When the acetabulum, or cup, is abnormally shaped where extra bone extends out, which creates friction when the edge of the cup hits the head of the femur, crushing the labrum under this extra bone
  • Combined – Combined impingement means both cam and pincer types are present in the hip joint

Hip Impingement Cause

FAI happens when the hip bones don’t grow in the right way during childhood. The damage and pain in a joint are caused by a cam bone spur, a pincer bone spur, or both. When the hip bones are shaped wrong, there isn’t much you can do to stop hip impingement.

Conditions


Hip Surgery
Hip Disclocation
Hip Disease
Hip Fracture
Hip Impingement
Hip Labral Tear
Hip Osteoarthritis
Hip Osteoporosis
Hip Strain

Hip Impingement Symptoms

Most people with FAI have pain or stiffness in their groin or upper thigh. This happens often or gets worse when the hips or waist are bent up, like when riding a bike, tying shoes, or sitting for a long time.

Hip Impingement Treatment

  • Nonsurgical treatment –
    • RICE therapy – Rest, ice, compression, and elevation
    • Activity modification – Reduce exercise that causes pain or change it to what is more comfortable for your hip
    • Anti-inflammatory medications – Ibuprofen
    • Physical therapy – This treatment can sometimes be used as initial treatment, however, it is most commonly used after surgery to help regain range of motion and increase strength and flexibility of the joint
  • Surgery – The two main goals of hip surgery for hip impingement are to fix the damaged portion of the hip joint and to correct and improve the shape of the joint so it is as close to normal as possible. This is often an arthroscopic procedure and will help relieve pain and inflammation of the hip

Hip Impingement Outcome

Impingement can cause pain and other problems that can be fixed with surgery. If the impingement is fixed, the hip pain can be helped. Surgery can fix some of the damage, but not all of it. This is especially true if treatment was put off and the damage is more severe, however, it’s possible that there will be more problems in the future.

Even though there’s a small chance surgery won’t help, it’s still the best way to treat painful FAI.

Hip Impingement Doctors

Here at Ortho Health of KC, our experienced physicians are ready to help you. If you are experiencing hip impingement pain, give us a call at (816)239-3843 and set up an appointment at one of our locations.

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