Physical Therapy for Femoroacetabular Impingement

Physical therapy treatment for FAI involves improving the overall range of motion, increasing strength, and decreasing pain. If you are suffering from femoroacetabular impingement physical therapist can help you to recover from this condition and return to your normal life.

There are many causes of hip pain. If your hips hurt you. You may benefit from the services of an expert physical therapist. The physical therapist will not only determine the cause of the pain but also helps you to get the correct treatment

What Is FAI?

Femoroacetabular impingement is a disorder of your hips and it occurs when your hip joint becomes pinched specifically when you move in a specific direction.

The hip joint is a ball and socket joint and in some conditions, the ball portion of the hip may get pinched in the socket

Because of this pinching, severe pain can oçcur and your motion is limited some of the symptoms of femoroacetabular impingement are

• Sharp pain in your groin
• Pain in the front of your hip
• A pain that radiates from the hip to the lower back and buttocks
• Compromise range of motion of the hip
• Feeling weakness and numbness in your hip
• Difficulty in walking, running, jumping, and cutting motions

If your healthcare provider feels that your symptoms are because of femoroacetabular impingement he or she may perform an x-ray and MRI. These help to evaluate the shape of your hip joint and help determine the cause of pain

Physical therapy treatment for hip FAI

For the treatment of femoroacetabular impingement, exercise is the main tool your physical therapist will devise  an appropriate and specific exercise program for your condition exercises for femoroacetabular impingement May include

• Hip stretching exercises
• Hamstring stretching exercises
•  quadriceps stretches 
• Hip and core strengthening exercises
• Balance and proprioception exercises

You may perform exercises in the presence of your physical therapist in the physical therapy clinic and your physical therapist may prescribe you some exercises as a part of your home exercise program.
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In addition to several exercises, Your physical therapist may also use physical modalities for improving muscular function and these physical modalities include

• Ultrasound
• Electrical stimulation
• Heat and ice
• Kinesiology taping

You must keep in mind that many of these physical modalities are not supported by any scientific study so they may not have any significant role in the restoration of your function and many of these activities are also passive sources. Make sure that a physical therapist involves more active exercises instead of passive physical modalities in your treatment plan.