The hip flexor consists of three different muscles: Rectus Femoris, Psoas Major, and Illiacus. It primarily moves your leg, pulling your knee to your chest or lifting your foot off the ground. These muscles originate near the hip and cross to the femur, or thighbone.
A hip flexor strain is characterized by tearing of one or more of the hip flexor muscles typically causing pain in the front hip or groin. The hip flexors move the knee towards the chest (i.e. bending the hip) during activity, particularly active when sprinting or kicking.
Tears to the hip flexors range from a partial tear causing slight pain and minimal performance, to a complete rupture accompanied with sudden serious pain and considerable disability. Hip flexor strains range from GRADE ONE to GRADE THREE and its classifications are:
- GRADE ONE TEAR: small cluster fibres are torn resulting in some pain, but allowing full motion
- GRADE TWO TEAR: significant cluster fibres tear with moderate loss of function
- GRADE THREE TEAR: muscle fibres rupture coupled with significant limitation of function
The majority of hip flexor strains are GRADE TWO.
Hip Flexor Solutions
Hip flexor injuries tend to become chronic because the rehabilitation does not concentrate on the elemental injury. Initial hip flexor strengthening exercises are 1) hip flexion, 2) hip extension in lying, 3) sit-ups, 4) leg raises, 5) overhead lunges, 6) quadriceps stretch, 7) heel side, and 8) strength leg raises. 223
The recovery time for a GRADE ONE is about one to two weeks. GRADE TWO is two to four weeks. GRADE THREE is six to eight weeks. Finally, research doctors and specialists for hip flexor strains are
Muscle and Orthopedic Specialists:
- Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine
- Orthopedic Surgery
Nerve Specialists:
- Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists)
- Pediatric Neurology (Child Brain Specialist)
- Spinal Cord Injury Medicine
Pain Specialists:
- Pain Medicine
- Rheumatology (Arthritis / Joint Pain)
Arthritis & Joint Health Specialists (Rheumatology):
- Rheumatology (Joint Health)
- Pediatric Rheumatology (Child Joint Health)
