LIFESTYLE NEWS - Exercise is one of the ways to improve your physical well being and it aids in great measure to get rid of ailments, aches and pains.
Follow the exercise programme provided by the biokineticists at Anine van der Westhuizen Biokineticist in George and feel the difference.
This week biokineticist Lana Laubscher gives the last instalment of the series about hip pain.
The labrum of the hip is a cartilage ring that forms a kind of lubricating O-ring around the ball of the femur, holding it in place in the acetabulum.
In some people, bony abnormalities, either of the neck of the femur or of the lip of the acetabulum, can cause the labrum to become repetitively impinged with normal ranging of the hip joint.
Over time, this impingement causes the labrum to fray and eventually tear.
Until recently, the long-term importance of labral tears wasn't completely appreciated.
Now, these tears are seen as potential contributors to the early development of arthritis of the hip.
Because the labrum is made of cartilage and therefore completely insensate, the symptoms of a labral tear arise only long after the damage has been done.
Patients with this problem frequently complain of pain in the groin that gets worse when crossing the affected leg over the other.
Hence, the diagnosis is difficult to confirm and requires an MRI with contrast medium injected into the joint.
Once confirmed, the treatment options for symptomatic patients are intensive rehabilitation or surgery.
It is important to note that not all patients with labral tears require surgical repair and these can be treated conservatively with good rehabilitation.
The hip joint is less prone to injury than the lower leg but can still be afflicted by a number of issues, big and small.
Quickly arriving at the correct diagnosis is an important part of getting effective treatment and returning to normal activity.
Knowing the common causes of hip and groin pain is also an important part of the equation.
It is good to see your biokineticist for biomechanical screening.
This ends of our series of hip joint injuries. Next week we will have a look at rehabilitative exercises essential to the hip joint.
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