Hip joint laxity - popping, adjustments, stability

[joreilly86]

Hi folks, 

 

First time poster.

 

I'm working through the pancake series, currently around 20 degrees past vertical with a nice straight back.

In general, while going through my stretches, (typically most evident in skandasana, tailor pose, reaching triangle, standing hip flexor), when I change movements, I often have to adjust/pop my hip. As if there is some laxity in the hip socket and it needs to adjust itself to the center for a new movement. I'd compare it to the kind of adjustment you get from a chiropractor, it's not painful but it can be annoying sometimes (i.e. I know I won't have good ROM until I get it to 'pop' back to the correct position.) What's going on here? Other times when I'm doing some movements to dynamically loosen up the hips, I can here little noises (no pain or discomfort) like the hip bone is gliding over some stubborn scar tissue or something like that, I've never had any major hip/groin/quad/hamstring injuries.

 

My uneducated intuition is telling me I have a strength imbalance in the muscles stabilizing the hip joint. My quads/hamstrings are on the tighter side of the spectrum but is there a test I can do to identify the issue? It seems to get stuck towards the front of the hip socket, why is this? TIght quads/hip flexors? Weak glutes? A combo?

 

Finally, is this just a normal part of progression? Do I need to cool my jets?

 

Good luck people!

[Frederik]

Yes, you probably need to "cool your jets".

 

It is of course possibly that you have a congenital deformation of the bony structures of the hip, and this is something every newborn is screened for nowadays. Diagnosis of such conditions necessitates seeing a skilled practioner in person and possibly having an X-ray or MR done of the hips (many adult men in the Western world will have had one done for other reasons, say trauma). This is not something I would worry about personally at this stage.

 

More likely I think it has to do with tendons and soft-tissue, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapping_hip_syndrome

 

If you have tight hip flexors, and I know very few people who does not- then give them some love and see if things does not change for the better.

 

I think similar questions have been asked and answered at least once before, so a search should yield more of the information you are seeking.

 

Best of luck.

[isenriver]

Same thing happens to me, so far nothing I've tried seems to make it go away, not that I've really tried anything to specifically target the problem. I see it as a minor inconvenience, I just warm up the hip joints with some rotations or crack/pop them into place with some sumo squats, cossack  squats or pu bu. I suspect it might be tight adductors or maybe abductors? I've just tried to incorporate more open hip movement throughout my day, I have noticed that the more I do it the easier/faster it is to click the joint back in place.     

[joreilly86]

Interesting responses, thanks guys. I took a week off training and it seems to have subsided a little. I will concentrate on loosening up the hip flexors and cooling the jets. Results to follow. I would love to have one of those MRI hip scans done, out of pure curiousity.