The first information we gather when making your diagnosis is the information you tell us yourself. Whether you describe your pain as an ache or a snap, and whether or not it comes with a feeling of shifting is all important to know.
The Three Types
- Lateral: the IT band snapping over part of the pelvis
- Anterior: the iliopsoas tendon snapping on the thigh bone
- Intra-articular (less common). This involves a structure within the joint causing the snap.
For the lateral and anterior types, the snapping is simply caused by soft tissues flicking over bone. In contrast, intra-articular snapping hip syndrome is often caused by something more traumatic. Be sure to mention if your symptoms started after an injury, even if it didn’t seem too severe. The clicking can also be caused by loose pieces of cartilage within the joint resulting from osteoarthritis. Between the information we gather from our discussion with you, and what we glean from physical examination, we can get to the bottom of the problem.
Symptoms of Snapping Hip Syndrome
Snapping hip syndrome is common, affecting about 1 in 10 people over a lifetime. For some of these people, symptoms will be painless, and the snapping noise or feeling will be the only sign. For others, bringing the hip forwards or back might cause pain and subsequent weakness.
Your osteopath will ask further questions and examine your movement to be sure that this is the cause of your symptoms. Weakness can also be caused by an irritated nerve, which might also cause pins and needles, numbness, or shooting pain as with sciatica. We can do some specific tests to nerves if we think they might be involved. Even if they are, the problem might still be within our remit, or we can refer you back to the GP if appropriate.
Managing Snapping Hip Syndrome
As this is just a syndrome, there’s more to uncover than just the type. Typically, we will want to know why the muscle or tendon is snapping in the first place. Often this is due to tension, which may lead back to a problem elsewhere. For example, if the IT band is tight, that’s usually because the small muscle it blends out from (the TFL) is tight, trying to protect an unstable knee. The knee itself may be completely asymptomatic, but managing the knee is the key to resolution.
Treatment itself will often involve local work to the tight muscles, as well as exercises to support this progress. Where applicable, we might want to work on joints and muscles in the rest of the leg, pelvis, or lower back. By the end of your first appointment, you can expect to have:
- a diagnosis that makes sense to you
- an idea of how long it might take to resolve, or knowledge of what the outcome will likely be
- a plan of action, including any self-management strategies and exercises you can do at home
