Hip Pain in Young Adults: Hip Impingement, Labral Tears and Snapping Hip

Hip pain in young adults gets taken less seriously because it is generally presumed that youth is strength. Sometimes it is the people around the sufferer who diminish it’s importance and sometimes it’s the sufferer themself.

Osteoarthritis at 30 seems implausible, so the groin pain after football, the pinch at the top of a deep squat or the hip that will not let you sit for a prolonged time gets written off as “you’re young and strong, it will heal” or labelled as “just a strain”. Yet the under-40 year old hip has its own well-recognised set of problems, hip impingement, labral tears and snapping hip among them and they are worth identifying properly, because the right management early is effective for most people.[1]

If your hip is young and yet it is complaining, this page is about what is most likely going on and what might help you.

“ Leslie identified the issue straightaway ”

“I went to see Leslie with an agonising persistent pain which was preventing me from walking unless I took strong pain killers. Leslie identified the issue straightaway and saved me from unnecessary X-rays and endless painkillers. His knowledge was second to non and really helped me understand what had caused the pain in the first place. Within a few weeks, the pain had subsided and I ran a half marathon!”

Christine T

What is hip impingement (FAI)?

Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAI) arises when the ball or socket of the hip carries a little extra bone, a cam shape on the ball, a pincer shape on the socket or both. In deep flexion and rotation the two make contact earlier than they should, pinching the structures between them. The international consensus (The Warwick Agreement) is strict in its definition of the condition: FAI syndrome requires symptoms, examination findings and imaging findings together because plenty of pain-free hips show the same bone shapes on a scan.[1] The labrum, a cartilage rim deepening the socket, often bears the brunt and labral tears frequently accompany impingement, though they also occur alone and are likewise common in people with no pain at all.[2] The shape of the joint is not the focus; the syndrome is what matters.

what causes hip pain in young adults

The bone shapes in question largely develop in adolescence and sports involving deep hip flexion and rotation during those formative years, football, hockey, dance, rowing, gymnastics are associated with the cam shape in particular.

Symptoms of hip pain in young adults tend to present themselves in a person’s twenties and thirties when load outstrips what the hip is conditioned for: an increase in training volume, a new sport, a heavy squatting regime or the deep-flexion demands of yoga and water sports. Around Poole Harbour I see it in sailors, kitesurfers and paddleboarders as often as I see it in runners and dancers. Weak deep hip and gluteal muscles and stiffness in the lower back and pelvis force the hip to find extra range, both these factors add to the load placed on the front of the joint.

Explore our hip and pelvic guides

Hip and pelvic pain: the main guide

Hip and groin

Hip osteoarthritis, wear and tear, and hip replacement care
Hip pain in younger and sporting adults: impingement, labral tears and clicking hips (you are here)
Hip pain and the symptoms people mistake for a bad back

Side of the hip and buttock

Pelvis and tailbone

Related guides

When hip or buttock pain starts in the back

When the problem shows up further down the leg

Wear and tear, bones and staying active

When sport or training is behind it

Hip Pain in Young Adults

One problem, many names, and the activities that tend to stir it up

A Also known as

Clinical names

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) Cam impingement Pincer impingement Acetabular labral tear Snapping hip syndrome Coxa saltans

What patients call it

Hip impingement Torn hip labrum Clicking or catching hip Snapping hip Pinching groin pain Sports hip

! Activities that can trigger or aggravate it

Football and rugby, and other kicking or tackling sports

Ice and field hockey, long spells crouched and lunging

Martial arts and kickboxing, high kicks and deep stances

Dance and ballet, extreme turnout and range, a classic cause of snapping hip

Gymnastics and cheerleading, repeated extreme range

Deep squats and weightlifting, particularly Olympic-style lifts

Distance running and sprinting, especially hill work

Cycling and rowing, sustained deep hip flexion

Racquet sports, tennis, squash and padel, pivoting and lunging

These activities do not harm a healthy hip. They tend to expose or aggravate an underlying cam or pincer shape, a labral tear, or a tendon that flicks across the joint. Deep bending, twisting and pivoting are the common thread.

Leslie Budzynski DC | Bournemouth Chiropractic | For general information only. It is not a substitute for individual assessment.

Clicking or snapping hip: coxa saltans

A hip that clicks, clunks or snaps has a name of its own, coxa saltans and two common varieties. External snapping is the iliotibial band flicking over the bony point on the outside of the hip; internal snapping is the iliopsoas tendon flicking over the front of the pelvis, often felt or heard deep in the groin as the hip straightens from flexion.[4] Be reassured that a painless snapping hip is common, particularly in dancers and needs no treatment at all. It needs attention when it hurts or when snapping starts alongside the catching and pinching described above, in which case the same assessment and strengthening approach applies, aimed at the tendon’s load and control rather than the click itself.

Hip pain in young adults. A male dancer on Bournemouth Pier performing althletic dance moves

Hip Pain in Young Adults: Don’t let it stop you.

Symptoms of hip pain in young adults

The classic FAI story is groin pain, often described with the “C-sign”, the patient cupping a hand around the hip from front to side because the pain is deep and hard to point to. It bites in deep flexion: squats, low chairs, long sitting, driving, getting out of the car and turning sharply on the planted leg. Labral problems add mechanical symptoms, catching, clicking or a feeling that the hip will not quite “let go”. Night ache after a heavy day is common; constant rest pain is not common and would prompt me to look more broadly for a diagnosis.

The main look-alikes across the hip and pelvic pain family are early hip osteoarthritis, which shares the groin location, adductor and hip flexor strains, which are more localised and injury-linked and pain referred from the lower back. Thorough chiropractic examination separates them.

How chiropractic care may help

The encouraging information from the research about hip pain in young adults is that structured conservative care is a credible option for FAI syndrome. The UK FASHIoN trial compared hip arthroscopy with a personalised programme of education, exercise and hip therapy and while surgery came out ahead on average, both groups improved and the difference was modest, confirming that a well-built conservative programme delivers real gains for many people.[3] That is the viewpoint with which I work with young hips.

Chiropractic care may help through hands-on treatment to ease the muscles around the hip and mobilise the lower back and pelvis, so the hip is not forced to find range its shape does not want to give, combined with what matters most: activity modification, which usually means adjusting depth and volume of exercise rather than stopping sport all together and then progressive strengthening of the gluteals and deep hip muscles.

Expect a plan running over two to three months, reviewed against your sport’s demands. If your presentation, progress or examination findings say you need imaging or an orthopaedic opinion, I will tell you and arrange the referral, because knowing when to refer is as much a part of good care as the treatment itself.

If you are experiencing hip pain under the age of 40 and it is getting in the way of things you would rather be doing, come and talk it through. I offer a free 15-minute consultation, you can come in for a short no-obligation chat with no examination or treatment.

Book a free consultation

Or call for a chat on 01202 937568

red flags

Hip pain in a young adult is rarely sinister, but a short list requires a doctor first: pain following significant trauma with inability to take weight, pain with fever or feeling unwell, night pain that is constant in every position, unexplained weight loss or a history of childhood hip disease or long-term steroid use, which raise specific conditions worth excluding. In those cases see your GP or A&E, before anything else.

The activity-related groin pain pattern is appropriate for assessment in clinic.

your first visit to Bournemouth Chiropractic

At your first full chiropractic appointment I take a full history including that of your sporting life, then examine your hip, pelvis and lower back with specific impingement and labral provocation tests alongside strength and movement assessment. You get a clear explanation of what I find and a plan we agree together, including referral for imaging or an orthopaedic opinion where the findings warrant it.

Your hip has probably got decades of sport left in it, so let us find out what it is objecting to.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my hip pinch at the bottom of a squat?

A hip that pinches at the bottom of a squat is the classic sign of hip impingement, where extra bone on the ball or socket makes early contact in deep flexion. It is worth assessing rather than pushing through, because adjusting squat depth and building hip strength usually manages it well.

Can a chiropractor help with hip impingement or FAI?

A chiropractor may help with hip impingement as part of the conservative approach trials support: education, activity modification, progressive strengthening and hands-on care for the surrounding muscles and joints. The FASHIoN trial showed structured conservative programmes deliver real improvement and I refer on for imaging or a surgical opinion whenever findings warrant it.

Do I need surgery for a hip labral tear?

Not necessarily, a hip labral tear does not automatically need surgery. Labral changes are common even in pain-free hips and many symptomatic tears settle well with strengthening and activity modification. Surgery is a reasonable option when good conservative care has failed and that decision belongs with an orthopaedic specialist.

Is a clicking hip serious?

A clicking hip is usually not serious. Painless snapping, common in dancers and flexible young adults, is a tendon flicking over bone and needs no treatment. A click that hurts or that comes with catching, pinching or giving way, deserves proper assessment, because painful mechanical symptoms are worth diagnosing correctly.

Should I stop playing sport with hip pain?

You should not usually stop sport completely with hip pain. Most young-adult hip problems respond to modifying the aggravating elements, depth, volume and sharp rotation, while strength work rebuilds capacity underneath. Complete rest tends to decondition the hip without fixing anything, which is why a guided, graded return works better.

Whatever's behind your hip and groin pain, come and find out

Hip and groin pain in younger, active people can show up in all sorts of ways: a deep pinch at the front of the hip, a catch or click when you squat or twist, a groin ache that persists after sport or a hip that snaps as you move. It is often hard to know what is causing it, which is exactly what a careful assessment is for. I'd happily see you for a course of treatment or first for a free 15 minute consultation, a short, no-obligation chat to talk through what's going on. I'll answer your questions and advise you if chiropractic can help and you can then choose whether to book a full visit for examination and treatment from there.

Hip and groin pain like this is a very common reason younger, active people book in to see me at my clinic in Bournemouth.

In many of the cases I see, chiropractic care is a very well-tolerated option worth considering and I'll explain clearly whether it's likely to help in your particular case. If I think you'd be better served by your GP, a specialist or another practitioner, I'll help point you in the right direction.

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