I was referred here by a friend of mine that suffered a similar injury to me. I recently strained my left hip flexor and am concerned about it becoming a chronic injury. Today I can't even lift my leg past 90 degrees without pretty intense pain. In fact i've just been avoiding lifting it all day - and icing it.

Just wondering what my steps should be. Should I allow some time to heal before panicing? I injured it just last night. It was sore before that and I should have rested but didn't. :( Or should I perhaps come in for an evaluation? I'm a martial artist, specifically training Capoeira and I really don't want this to take me out. Eek!

Thank you so much in advance for any answers!

Katherine

Hi Katherine,
If you just recently injured you hip flexor in the last 48-72 hours, then rest and icing it 15mins on and 45mins off, as often as possible is the best thing you can do for it while it is in an inflammation stage.

However, from your email it sounds like you have been having issues with this hip flexor prior to your current injury. For this reason I believe it would be in your best interest to be evaluated for a few things, 1) to assess the severity of the injury and help you create a plan to help your body heal as quickly as possible and 2) to evaluate your posture and biomechanics. Quite often an injury occurs due to poor biomechanics. For example, if your pelvis is misaligned then this will cause all of the muscles which attach to the pelvis to be in dysfunction, some will be overstressed, while others will be tight and shortened. Often we go through our daily lives without any problems, but once you add the extra stress involved in sports or even a sudden movement, then the force no longer can move through us and disperse as nature intended, but rather builds up at a weakened point and unexpectedly you suffer and injury. I hope you find this information helpful to you. If you would like an evaluation of your injury, you can call our office at 604-733-3676 and a member of our Guest Services team will get you scheduled in.

All the best,

Tara Gilliland-Smith, CAT(C)
Certified Athletic Therapist
Performance Posture