The hip joint is a ball and socket joint made up of the socket (the acetabulum) and the ball (the femoral head). There are two anatomical variations of the hip or acetabulum that can cause the femoral head to impinge (pinch) with the acetabular ring causing hip pain.  The first is called a cam lesion, where there is extra bone near the femoral head that comes into contact with the acetabular ring during hip flexion.  The second is a pincer lesion, where the acetabular ring has extra bone and can cause impingement with the femoral head.  One could also have both a cam and pincer lesion, leading to increased occurrences of impingement. When one impinges they can cause irritation/damage to the cartilage, the bone and/or the hip labrum.

Although physical therapy cannot change the anatomical structure(s), there are often postural and muscular imbalances that increase the likelihood of impingement that we can address.  Many people have FAI, but do not have symptoms.  It is often those that have FAI coupled with impaired posture and muscular imbalances that experience symptoms.  We will perform a comprehensive evaluation to determine which structures are contributing to FAI, and develop a program to target the impaired areas.

Associated Symptoms:

• Hip pain, especially with flexion/adduction
• Decreased range of motion
• Clicking/catching/popping in hip
• Hip pain with prolonged sitting, or sitting in low chair