Hip Acetabular Labral Tears

During physical activity, you rely on your hips to provide support, stability and mobility through a broad range of motion. Even during relatively passive activities like sitting or standing, your hips play a role in stabilizing your body. Because your hip joints are subjected to large force loads during physical activity and throughout the day, they can become injured, causing pain and disability.

One of the most common hip injuries in healthy people is an acetabular labral tear.

The Hip Labrum

Your hip is a ball and socket joint, formed where the ball of the femur fits into the acetabulum, the deep socket of the pelvis. The acetabulum is lined with a thick ring of fibro-cartilaginous tissue called the labrum, which works with the ligaments and muscles to maintain joint stability. The labrum also forms a seal for joint fluid, facilitating a smooth gliding movement between the ball and socket.

Biomechanics

The labrum stabilizes the hip joint by forming a seal, thereby creating negative pressure inside the joint. Biomechanical studies suggest that the negative pressure within the hip joint provides a more important and stronger mechanism of stability than the ligaments of the hip joint capsule. In fact, the labrum’s sealing effect is the most unique stabilizing mechanism in the human body.

Disruption of the acetabular labrum is thought to “break the seal” of the hip joint, causing increased femoral head translation. This increases the contact pressure of the femoral head against the acetabulum, subsequently wearing out the joint cartilage.

Incidence and Prevalence

In physically active populations, the demands placed on the hips can lead to labral tears that produce pain and limit mobility. Sports like football and soccer demand large amounts of jumping, landing and kicking, subjecting the hip to a great deal of stress. Dancers, ice hockey players and figure skaters place huge demands on their hips as they cut, leap, glide and land. Long distance runners are often prone to labral tears due to repetitive overuse.

Wear and tear over time can also cause labral tears, especially in people with bony abnormalities in either the ball or the socket, predisposing them to impingement. Abnormal bony structures of the hip are responsible for approximately 90 percent of labral tears.

Causes of Hip Labral Tears

A labral tear occurs when a segment of the labrum is pulled away from the hip socket, often in response to repetitive trauma.

Causes may include

Bony abnormalities that lead to impingement
Weakened hip muscles
Faulty movement mechanics during repetitive activities
Distance running
Sports that require cutting, jumping, twisting and kicking
Excessive repetitive stretching in activities like yoga, dance or gymnastics

Symptoms of a Hip Labral Tear

In its early stages, a labral tear may be asymptomatic, or pain may appear suddenly for no apparent reason.

Symptoms may include

A deep ache at the front of the hip or groin
Painful licking, locking or catching sensations in the hip
Stiffness and reduced range of motion
Weakness in the hip area
Pain that increases with sitting or walking
Sharp pain in the hip or groin when squatting

Diagnosis

During diagnosis, your doctor will review your health history and ask questions about your physical activities and the onset of symptoms. They will also examine your hip, knees and back, and assess your postural alignment. You may be asked to walk, step up, squat, or balance on one leg. The therapist will also palpate your hip region to identify the locus of pain.

At NYDNR, in addition to the above methods, we use real time diagnostic ultrasound to accurately diagnose acetabular labrum tears and to identify impingements caused by bony abnormalities. We also use video gait analysis, and C.A.R.E.N (Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment) motion analysis to assess hip function and identify mechanical deficiencies.

Please explore more advanced diagnostic option unavailable anywhere else:

Sonoelastography SMI

Hip dysfunction and pain can be a complex issue due to interactions of the trunk, pelvis, low back, groin and hip joint. Physical therapy and rehabilitation that is based only on subjective clinical analysis often addresses the symptoms without resolving the underlying cause.

At NYDNRehab, our groundbreaking motion analysis technology and high resolution diagnostic ultrasonography have enabled us to develop a battery of tests that perfectly reveal the dynamic functional pathology of the hip joint and pelvis. Our tests are evidence-based protocols that are considered to be the gold standard in the world of research.

Our testing protocol includes:

Combined lumbopelvic hip stability test using DLEST methodology with C.A.R.E.N., our computer assisted rehab environment

Hip joint stability test using DLEST methodology with C.A.R.E.N.

3D star excursion banner test (SEBT) for assessing the involvement of the hip joint and muscles in postural stability

3D gait or running analysis

3D kinematic joint angle analysis during a squat, lunge, drop jump and pelvis on hip rotation

Rehabilitative ultrasonography for viewing intrinsic hip stabilizing muscle activation patterns

We also perform neuromotor testing with DD Robotech for:

Proprioception
Tracking ability
Force sense
Critical power
Reactive power
Flexibility

SEMG

Surface electromyography (SEMG) may be added to any of the above tests when needed.

Based on our experience and evidence-based information, we believe that physical therapy and rehabilitation should be based on objective quantifiable data.

Treatment Options

Torn hip labral tissue cannot heal on its own. Physical therapy is the first line of treatment for a torn labrum. Rehabilitation focuses on increasing hip strength, mobility and motor control to relieve pain and reduce stress to the labrum. Most patients treated with physical therapy are able to return to satisfactory levels of physical activity.

While severe and traumatic labral tears may require surgery to remove or repair torn tissue, 50 percent of patients treated surgically remain symptomatic. Data indicates that surgery is no more effective than physical therapy treatment in most cases of labral tears.

Treatment at NYDNR

At NYDNR we use the latest technology to assess, treat and rehabilitate hip conditions, including acetabular labral tears. Treatment options may include physical therapy, dry needling, extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT), Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (C.A.R.E.N), force plate and motion capture analysis, and feedback/feed-forward retraining. We also use innovative therapies like Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS) and Anatomy in Motion to treat hip injuries.