What happens to an untreated hip labral tear?

Complications. If a labral tear is left untreated, it will lead to ongoing and worsening pain. A normal labrum is important to the normal function of the hip joint. A torn labrum leads to cartilage damage and eventual arthritis of the hip joint.

Can you live with a hip labral tear?

Simply put, a hip labral tear will not heal without surgical treatment. However, many less severe hip labral tears can be managed for years, sometimes even indefinitely, with nonsurgical treatment.

Can you make a torn hip labrum worse?

If you have a hip labral tear, hip pain or discomfort may get worse when you bend, move or rotate the hip, or exercise or play sports.

Can you live without hip labrum surgery?

Fortunately, most hip labral tears can be effectively treated without surgery. Depending on the severity of the injury, a hip labral tear can be a serious condition, leading to joint instability and the possibility of future injuries down the road.

Can a hip labral tear be debilitating?

When the labrum tears, it can cause pain and hip instability. A torn labrum also increases the risk of developing osteoarthritis of the hip, a painful and potentially debilitating condition. Fortunately, treatments are available for hip labral tears, including nonsurgical and surgical options.

Hip Labral Tear: Symptoms, Causes and Treatments

What does a severe hip labral tear feel like?

Hip labral tear symptoms include: Pain in the hip, groin or buttocks, especially as you walk or run, and sometimes at night when you sleep. Hip stiffness or limited range of motion. A clicking or locking sensation in the hip joint when you move.

Can labrum tears get worse?

But labrum tears are another cause of shoulder pain, and without prompt medical treatment, your symptoms and your injury can become much worse.

What happens if you don't fix labrum?

Without proper treatment and physical rehabilitation, SLAP injuries can cause chronic stiffness, pain, and weakness in the affected arm. Many labral tears can also lead to joint degeneration, which will just cause you more pain in the long run.

Should I get my torn hip labrum fixed?

If a hip labral tear causes significant hip pain and symptoms do not improve with medical treatment or therapeutic injections, NYU Langone doctors may recommend surgery to repair or reconstruct the labrum and fix any underlying structural abnormality that may have caused the labral tear.

Can a hip labral tear radiate down the leg?

Symptoms of a labral tear: Pain from a hip labral tear is most often felt near the groin in the front of the hip. Sometimes, patients will feel pain at the side and behind the hip joint, and this pain may radiate down the thigh.

Is walking good for a hip labral tear?

Take a break from any activity, including standing or walking, that may cause pain. If your doctor recommended using a cane or crutches, use them as directed. This can help relieve stress on the hip. Do exercises and stretching as directed by your therapist or doctor.

What aggravates a hip labral tear?

Many patients with labral tears describe a constant dull pain with intermittent episodes of sharp pain that worsens with activity. Walking, pivoting, prolonged sitting, and impact activities, such as running, often aggravate symptoms.

What percentage of hip labral tears need surgery?

Labral Tears After Age 40

8 Almost 20% of these patients ultimately end up having hip replacement surgery within a year and a half of undergoing arthroscopic hip surgery. It is clear that not every individual who has a hip labral tear needs arthroscopic hip surgery.

What makes a labral tear worse?

The pain usually worsens with walking, pivoting or impact activities such as running. The pain also occurs at night and can be associated with clicking, catching or locking. Labral tears occur in association with a traumatic event such as a motor vehicle accident, a fall or a collision with another player.

Will a hip brace help for a torn labrum?

Background. Patients with FAIS or a labral tear often experience pain in adduction, internal rotation, and flexion. While avoiding these impingement positions may help reduce pain, observation studies of one hip brace failed to find benefit.

Does a torn labrum mean hip replacement?

Diagnosing a Torn Hip Labrum

In men, this problem is usually hip impingement. In women, it is most often hip dysplasia. In either case, if left untreated these conditions can lead to reinjury and, over time, osteoarthritis, and ultimately hip replacement.

How long will I be off work after hip labrum surgery?

Return to work It is recommended you take a minimum of 4 weeks off from work. If your job allows you to work from home, you may begin this 1‐2 weeks after surgery. Even if you have a desk job, in the first few weeks after surgery you need to avoid prolonged sitting.

How long do you stay in the hospital after hip labral tear surgery?

You will be under general anesthesia, and will likely spend 2-5 days in the hospital. During the 2 to 3-hour operation, your surgeon may temporarily dislocate the femoral head from the hip socket.

What not to do with hip labral tear?

What Should be Avoided with a Hip Labral Tear? Positions of pain such as excessive hip extension, jumping and pivoting should be avoided as it can cause impingement of the hip joint and spasm of the surrounding musculature.

Does walking hurt a labral tear?

Walking is another excellent cardio exercise choice for someone dealing with hip pain like that caused by a labral tear. It allows you to work a fair number of muscles throughout the body while producing fairly low levels of impact on the joints. And, of course, it will get your heart rate up.

Can a partially torn labrum get worse?

When this happens, the labral tissue may start to tear. If the tear gets worse, it may become a flap of tissue that can move in and out of the joint, getting caught between the head of the humerus and the glenoid. The flap can cause pain and catching when you move your shoulder.

How painful can a hip labral tear be?

For many patients, a labral tear injury causes intense hip pain that feels like it comes from a place deep within the joint. For some, this “deep” hip pain may radiate into the groin or buttocks during hip-intensive activities.

Can you squat with a torn hip labrum?

It's a pretty good rule of thumb that squatting is either not recommended or recommended to be heavily modified for athletes who are having hip labrum issues. This is because of the high degree of hip flexion during the squat - or where the knees come closer to the chest - can cause some major problems in the hip.

Do you always need surgery for labral tear?

Although this fibrous piece of tissue is quite resilient, the labrum can be torn as a result of overuse or acute injury. While labral injuries such as SLAP tears often respond well to conservative treatment, labrum tear surgery is sometimes needed to fully resolve symptoms.

Can physical therapy fix a torn hip labrum?

Many are able to treat hip labral pain and other kinds of hip pain through hip labral tear treatment in physical therapy, although sometimes surgery is required. You can seek physical therapy for a hip labral tear, and under the guidance of a physical therapist perform torn hip labrum exercises at home.