Hip Pain?

[ascb]

Hi Rip,
My wife began ss 9 weeks ago and had been making great progress up until 3 weeks ago when she developed right hip pain. It started as an "ache" in the right hip joint only at the bottom of the squat. She used ibuprofen and deloaded which didn't help. So she stopped squatting for a week but was able to deadlift and clean without a problem. She tried to squatting again last week but had pain on the first warm up set and stopped. The pain is now constant and is still a dull ache but she is getting occasional sharp pain and an intermittent sensation of "catching." The pain is definitely within the joint and there is no palpable tenderness in the surrounding muscle or tendons. The pain is not excruciating(3 out of 10) but she is concerned because it is getting worse/constant and she even feels it with air squats. She has stopped deadlifting/cleans/squats but is still pressing, benching, and doing rack pulls. Any thoughts(labrum??)?

Age 32
Weight 135lb
Ht 5"6
Squat 50lb/105lb
bench 65lb/90lb
press 50lb/65lb
dl 65lb/120lb
clean 55lb/75lb

Thanks for your time

[Mark Rippetoe]

What is her sports background?

[Steve Hill]

And exactly where in the hip is her pain? Precision and accuracy are important here

[ascb]

No serious sports history. She ran 2 to 3 days per week(off and on) over the past couple years and completed a half marathon and several 5K and 10Ks. This was her first attempt at really training. Also, she never had this hip pain while running.

[ascb]

Steve,
The pain is within the joint, where the femur and acetabulum meet. It is probably most painful in the anterior aspect of the joint. The pain is not reproduceable with palpation; so I cant push on it and pinpoint the exact spot. She has general ache in the joint most of the time but it gets worse if she squats down or if she froglegs her leg.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Sounds like a labrum tear, which for a femoral labrum is usually an overuse injury. That's why I asked about her history. Might have been the running.

[Steve Hill]

I agree with Mark that this is likely a tear on the anterior aspect of the labrum; however, the problem is that (usually) labral tears are palpable. Can she induce the pain by squatting down deep with a narrow stance and toes pointed forward? How about this: Does it hurt when she does a lunge putting the non-injured leg forward (and the injured leg stretched out like the back leg of a split-catch)?

[ascb]

Thanks for your response. That's what I was afraid of. In your experience are people usually able to resume training after treatment? Are most treated surgically?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I have no experience with this rehab. Sorry.

[ascb]

Steve,
It does reproduce the pain with both of those movements. Its really frustrating for her because she was really happy with her progress. She made an appointment with a sports medicine doc so we will see.

Thanks