54: Love Those Hips! All About the Hip Labrum

Today hosts Tiffany and Rachel delve into a sometimes controversial topic in the medical and yoga worlds: the hip labrum.

In this episode, you will learn what the hip labrum is and how it acts as a crucial source of stability and durability for the hip joint. We discuss common injuries that we see in that part of the body, and how they are diagnosed and treated by healthcare professionals.

Listen to this episode as we explore why labrum injuries seem so common in yoga practitioners, share a wide range of yoga practices to help support the hip labrum whether injured or not, and discuss why it might pay to be a little less “greedy” when exploring our hip range of motion.

“It’s a topic that we’ve grown to understand more and more in the last 10-15 years.” – Tiffany Cruikshank

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“It’s increasing that surface area of the acetabulum by about 21-28%.” – Tiffany Cruikshank

Show Notes:

• The hip labrum as a relatively recent topic for medical study, diagnosis and treatment [3:29]
• What is the acetabular or hip labrum and what does it do? [8:48]
• What kind of events, acute or chronic, are associated with hip labrum injury? [12:33]
• Potential symptoms [20:41]
• Averages and outliers; the challenge of diagnosis [24:54]
• When to refer students out for medical assessment [27:04]
• Medical diagnosis and treatment of hip labrum injury [32:25]
• Can the labrum heal? Recent changes in understanding of hip labrum vascularization [34:07]
• Helpful practices before and after treatment for hip labrum injury [34:56]
  • Awareness of lower body posture patterns [35:38]
  • Glute and abdominal strength [38:32]
  • Balance hip mobility deficits [40:12]
  • Using myofascial release to tune into the quality of hip tissues [41:12]
  • Active loading in hip rotation [42:04]
  • Lower load hip rotation practices [43:56]
  • Eccentric psoas work [45:09]
  • The need for control during loaded hip internal rotation [47:04]
  • Tiffany’s All About the Hips class playlist on Yoga Medicine Online [49:32]
• Why does hip labrum injury seem so common in the yoga world? [51:25]
• “More isn’t better”: tips for more mobile students [56:59]
• The long-term importance of good standing stability [1:02:36]
• Big takeaways [1:03:53]
• Gaining the best outcomes from hip labrum treatment or surgery [1:07:00]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Hip Intensive Yoga Teacher Training
• Tiffany’s “All About the Hips” Playlist
• Other helpful YMO Practices to try:
  • MFR: 360 Degrees of the Hips
  • Ease Over Depth: Mellow Mobility Practice
• Yoga Medicine Podcast Episode 50: Stronger After Surgery: Community Conversations with Alice Blunden

“I cannot recommend hip stability practices highly enough.” – Rachel Land