Femoroacetabular Impingement Part 1

1 Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI) is a condition that I came across while studying for my BOC exam. Basically, it is a condition where the bones of the hip are shaped abnormally. As you might imagine, this causes the hip bones to rub against one another and cause damage to the joint.

There are three types of FAI that can happen to an individual: a pincer, a cam, and then a combination of the two. 1 A pincer is a type of impingement that occurs because of an extra bone that extends out over the normal rim of the acetabulum. The labrum can be severely damaged under the prominent rim. 1 The second impingement, the cam, is where the femoral head is not round and can’t rotate smoothly inside the acetabulum. This causes a bump to develop on the edge of the femoral head that grinds the cartilage inside the acetabulum. 1 There are also individuals that have developed both impingements in their hip, which causes even more stress and pain on that single joint.

The symptoms of FAI are hard to diagnosis if you do not know what you are looking for. Many people may have a hip impingement for years and never know it because it takes a while for the pain to actually start. 2 The main symptoms that are seen are stiffness in the groin or front of the thigh and/or the loss of your hip’s full range of motion. 2 When the impingement first occurs, the individual may only feel pain at the end of the hips limits, either in hip full flexion or full extension. After a while, it progresses and causes them to feel more pain during certain activities. Next week I will talk about the diagnosis process and how to treat FAI.

References:

1 Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI)-OrthoInfo - AAOS. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2016, from http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00571

2 Hip Impingement: Symptoms, Treatments, Causes, and More. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2016, from http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/hip-impingement-causes-treatments?page=2