Hip Flexor Strain

Hip Flexor Strain
The collection of muscles present in the frontal part of the hip which help in forward motion when you start walking or running is called hip flexor. The hip flexor comes under heavy stress whenever a person moves his leg to kick or to start a sprint. Hip flexor strain (tearing of either one or more than one of the hip flexor muscles) is often a result of such activities. Hip flexor strain causes strong pain in the groin or the frontal region of the hip. Hip flexor strain varies from a partial muscle tear which would result in less pain and little to no difficult in walking to total rupture of the muscle which would result in extreme pain and loss of significant function. Causes and Symptoms of Hip Flexor Strain The main cause of the hip flexor strain is usually an abrupt contraction of the muscles, especially when the muscles are stretched to begin with. The strain is often the result of a strong sprint that involves great acceleration or a long kick, especially if the body wasn’t properly warmed up before the activity. It is also possible that the muscles don’t tear right away but gradually start tearing up due to continued stress on them. The strain is certainly seen most commonly in sports like soccer and football as both sports involve a lot of running and kicking. Nagging pain in the frontal region of the hip Sudden development of pain The pain worsens when you try to move your thigh in a vertical direction Even the slightest stretch causes hip flexor pain Bruising along with inflammation (this only happens in severe cases) Tenderness felt at the frontal portion of the hip. If you are able to feel tenderness right away, then it may actually be a Rectus Femoris issue rather than a hip flexor issue. Home Remedies for Hip Flexor Strain After every three to four hours, pick up the ice pack or a gel pack or even a wrapped cloth piece containing a couple of frozen vegetables and put it on the region where you feel the pain for a sustained period of 20 minutes. Try ice massaging on the sore region. For this, first pick up a Styrofoam cup and freeze water in it. Remove the cup’s top so that the ice gets exposed. Then rub the ice over the region where you feel the most pain for a few minutes. Heat can also be a good solution as it can relax the muscles. The best time to apply some heat over the painful region is around fifteen to twenty minutes before you start your small stretching exercises. To apply moist heat, you will have to buy a heating pad or a heat patch or simply use a cloth which has been heated slightly in the dryer. If hip flexor strain causes a lot of pain, then you can take pain relieving medicines like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. NSAIDs like naproxen or ibuprofen have some side-effects, so it’s recommended to not use NSAIDs for more than a week or two without asking your health physician. Original article and pictures take http://www.enkivillage.com/hip-flexor-strain.html site