It may come on gradually or after a single effort, and although it's painful, it's one of the easier niggles to cure and prevent recurrence
A hip flexor strain is a sudden sharp pain in the hip or pelvic region, usually accompanied by pain when also lifting the knee/leg in the lower abdominal region. The strain can come from one specific movement or it can build over time from repetitive overuse.
Identifying the root cause
The muscles involved in a hip flexor strain are the illiopsoas and the rectus femoris, which is part of the top of the quads, but the causes of the condition can be complex. It’s not a simple niggle to diagnose, so it’s best to consult a physio about the cause of your problem. In the meantime, here are a few possibilities for consideration.
• Tightness and weakness. We all spend a lot more time sitting down that ever before. Many of us sit at desks for eight hours or more for five days a week and this can cause a lot of tightness in our hip flexors. In contrast, when we run we want those tight muscles to stretch to help us propel off the ground.
Tightness and stretching don’t work in tandem toghether, and although it sounds simplistic, this conflict could be the root cause of your problem. Tightness is rarely the sole issue but when combined with weakness, a problem can flare up.
• Core weakness and instability.
A weakened core region (around the lower pelvic region and gluteal area) can be the cause of many issues and strains, especially ones that originate in the hip region.
Our core is made of three key parts: tranverse abdominis, external obliques and the rectus abdominus. Your obliques and rectus abdominis are key in stabilising the pelvis which is important when running because it promotes efficient form.
If these core muscles are not strong, it will not only destabilise the pelvis but expose the hip flexors and surrounding muscle to much more strain potential.
• Calf and hamstring strength.
The motion of running, especially at toe-off (where we propel our toes off of the ground), is when the hip flexors can work too hard. If you have weak calves and hamstrings, it means the hip flexor has to work twice as hard to help bring the leg off the ground. When your calves and hamstrings don’t fire to help with the propulsion off the ground, it can cause more of a pulling from the hips. In other words, the lack of calf propulsion can overload the hip flexors and increase the likelihoo
