Hip Flexor Strain

By Matt Paulus, MS, ATC, Site Coordinator

Hip Flexor Strain

So what is a hip flexor strain? It is an injury to the muscles that run along the front of your hip. It can vary in severity and symptoms. Anywhere from a mild pain that is annoying to a severe pain that inhibits your ability to walk or raise your leg. Typically hip flexor injuries are caused from overuse. Runners and dancers that repetitively need to flex their hip or raise their leg are prone to these injuries. Fortunately most hip flexor injuries respond well to ice, rest and light stretching.

There are 5 Hip Flexor Muscles

There are 5 muscles that flex the hip:

Iliacus, Psoas, Pectineus, Rectus Femoris and the Sartorius muscle.

If you want to learn more about the hip flexor muscle, go to HIP FLEXOR.

Hip Flexors

Hip flexors are a group of muscles that cross over the front of your hip. As their name applies, they help flex your hip. These muscles are used every time you walk. They help lift your leg in order to swing it forwards. These same muscles also help pull your leg up when putting on a sock or shoe. If you like to walk or put shoes on by yourself, keep these muscles strong.

Several Approaches To Treating Hip Pain With JOI Physical Therapy

Despite hip pain being a common complaint among all people, there are a few easy forms of physical therapy which can help. Exercises for core strength and stability are used to treat and prevent pain in the hips. Ergonomic education is instrumental in treating hip pain, as the source of most of the pain comes from how people sit and/or stand for long periods of time. It is also important to stretch the hip flexors to maintain a good level of flexibility.  Lastly and perhaps most importantly is keeping up with your health.

JOI Rehab has a hip exercise program series of videos and exercise sheets.  See the picture below:

• Related Article: Best Core Stabilization Exercises, Psoas Strain, and Hamstring Strains.

JOI and JOI Rehab

By: Matt Paulus, MS, ATC, Site Coordinator