Labral Tear with Iliopsoas Syndrome

by Kapers
(WPB, Fl, USA)

I suffered an anterior labral tear to my hip three years ago. I cannot take anti-inflammatory meds but swim and bike as much as I can.

Recently, my hip started "locking or catching" almost every time it was flexed. I was told I needed a hip replacement although the x-ray shows minimal arthritis. I went for second opinion. He said this may be a contributing factor but he felt I have a very tight iliopsoas muscle and advised stretching after an injection into the muscle.

I really am not crazy about sticking a needle into the muscle and would like to go straight to stretching but he is adamant about injection. Now at night I occasionally have some tingling in the foot. I am attributing this to the tight muscle as I have no back pain.

I do have pain in the groin are which is consistent with both labral tear and tight muscle.

What stretches can I safely do?

----------
Response from Stephen at Lower Back Pain Answers

Hi Kapers,

A tight and constricted anterior hip can definitely be caused by tightness in the iliopsoas tendon.

If you have not had success with Static Stretching I would highly recommend trying Active Isolated Stretching.

On this page I have free videos of this technique. Scroll down to Hip Flexors Stretch, 3rd stretch down the page.

You will have to be consistent, though, in order to experience lasting results, especially if the muscle and tendon have been tight for a long time.

Also it may be necessary to strengthen the gluteus maximus muscle as this often becomes weak when the iliopsoas becomes chronically tight.

Hope that helps!

Best,

Stephen from LBPA