Popping Hips
Dancing Smart Newsletter,
January 9, 2004
Hello everyone,
In today's newsletter I am going to answer two different questions that came in this week in order to compare the possible reasons for "popping hips". The first question is from Lorrie.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I have a student complaining that her hip is "popping" out of the socket. When I took a look, I noticed that when she is in a tendue from 1st position and turns her leg in and out, it seems to "pop" out when she is turning in and then goes back in on the out rotation... I have never seen this before. Can you shed some light on what it is and how I should deal with it?
With much appreciation, LL
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
My opinion (without being able to see this movement in person) is that you are describing a "snapping hip" syndrome. This is a situation where the abductors or lateral hip muscles (specifically the iliotibial band) are very tight, and when the rotation of the leg is changed, the iliotibial band "pops" over the greater trochanter (which is the bump on the outside upper thigh).
We have all seen dancers who stand on their leg, and say they can dislocate their hip and when they start to shift the hip out to the side you will see the greater trochanter "pop" out from under the iliotibial band (or ITB). It's pretty dramatic and good for an audible "wow" by the observer.
What you are describing with the tendue may be a variation of this when the dancer rotates that leg into internal rotation, they'll get a pop as the trochanter changes its placement in relationship to the iliotibial band, and then returns to the more normal tighter externally rotated and abducted position. It's not unusual for dancers to have some tightness in the gluteal and ITB area.
What I would encourage that dancer to do is to work with the ball all around the hip, but focusing on the outside of the pelvis. Then have them stretch the gluteal, turnout and the ITB muscles and then do their tendue and see if there is a difference.
Now for a different "pop" story from Dayna.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I've been having some trouble with my hips all throughout my dancing life. I'm 19 and have been doing all sorts of dance and gymnastics since age 6. Since I can remember well, I've alwayshad this problem of clunking in both hips typically only when I'm in one certain position. For example...if I'm laying flat on my back with one leg down on the ground and straight out...and the other extended up creating a right angle to the ground...and then I'm asked to lower that leg that's up, all the way to the ground-RIGHT before it hits the ground my hip clunks...and loud. It's a sound that can be heard almost anywhere in the studio...not like a simple pop or crack of the joint. It doesn't hurt all that much...it is just very irritating, to the point where it feels gross, so I don't want to do it. And it also makes that movement very weak..like after it clunks...it just gives out. So when I'm doing pilates and I'm asked to do the single leg pull exercise, I have to drop out because my hips will just clunk every time I lower the leg. I've been looking at a lot of research online about snapping hip syndrome -which I thought could be the cause of my discomfort...but then most of the info says that it happens when the person is putting weight on the hip... mine almost always only happens in this position that I described above. Also, one last touch...I have some chronic unexplained knee problems and wonder if this is in connection to the hip...on and off I will get a pain on the insides of my knees, along the edge of the kneecap. I don't know if this could possibly be related. Thanks so much for your time and consideration.
-Day
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This description of a pop is not the typical snapping hip syndrome, but more likely the iliopsoas tendon catching on a bony prominence of the pelvis or the lesser trochanter where it attaches. The iliopsoas muscle is a hip flexor and acts to externally rotate the thigh (during flexion - but it is not considered a major turnout muscle).
When the iliopsoas is chronically tight the pop happens when you are lowering from flexion - just as you describe. Generally, there isn't any pain involved, although over time the bursa that is under that iliopsoas tendon can get inflamed.
In this scenario, similar to the first one, you would want to release any and all tightness around the hip joint, and have a solid stretching program emphasizing the iliopsoas, but also targeting all quadrants of the hip, the hamstrings, quads, inner thigh muscles (adductors) and outer thigh muscles (ITB).
There is one other possibility for the pop that you describe that is a little less common. I don't know what your body type is like - whether you have a tendency to be slightly tight, or if you have a loosey goosey body that has great flexibility, but sometimes lacks the strength to support it. In this latter type, sometimes the iliofemoral ligaments move over the femoral head or anterior capsule of the hip. It's almost as if you have some "play" in the hip area that creates this popping sound.
Even though there may be different reasons for the popping sound, the treatment plans would be very similar and that would be to balance out the muscular imbalances found around the hip. Good muscle tone means being flexible and strong. You may need to focus more on stretching or more on strengthening, depending on your findings.
An additional note to Dayna, yes, what you are feeling at your knees could certainly be strongly influenced by what is happening at your hips. I always teach my students that the knees are at the mercy of what happens above and below, meaning the hips and the ankles/feet area.
Until next week , I hope everyone is keeping warm!
Deborah
"Education is the key to injury prevention"
DeborahVogel@thebodyseries.com