“We will be in tune with our bodies only if we truly love and honor them.” - Harriet Lerner
The hip
joint is an important one for all dancers to understand since it is responsible
for flexing and extending the leg, rotating the leg inward and outward, and
moving the leg away from the center of the body (abduction) and pulling the leg
in toward the center of the body (adduction).
The hip
joint is a ball and socket joint which allows the leg to move in all different
directions. The head of the femur, or
thigh bone, fits neatly into a pocket in the pelvis and is held in place by a
web of different muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
An often
heard complaint from many dancers is that they hear and feel a snapping or
popping in the joint during movements like grand plié and developpé. The audible noise is a clicking sound, and
dancers often simultaneously experience a shift in the skeleton, and it is
referred to as hip snapping syndrome.
The “snapping”
of the hip occurs when a muscle or a tendon passes directly over a bone. The two most common types of snapping at the
hip are lateral hip snapping and anterior hip snapping.
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| from www.online.epocrates.com |
Lateral hip
snapping involves the iliotibial band which is the tendon portion the gluteus
maximus and tensor fascia lata muscles.
It runs along the outside of the thigh and attaches to the skeleton near
the top of the tibia, one of the bones found in the lower leg. At the top of the femur, there a bony
projection on the outside of the bone called the greater trochanter. When the leg is extended, the iliotibial band
lies just behind the greater trochanter, but when the leg bends, or flexes, at
the hip joint, the iliotibial band passes over the greater trochanter and if
the tendon or any of its muscles are tight, a snapping will occur as it slides
across it.
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| from www.physioadvisor.com.au |
Anterior
hip snapping happens at the front of the hip as opposed to the side of the hip
and involves the iliopsoas, which is the merging of the iliacus and psoas
muscles. The iliacus begins at the
inside back of the pelvis, while the psoas is attached to the lower vertebra,
and they combine to attach to the inside of the femur on a small bony
projection called the lesser trochanter.
When the leg is flexed, or bent at the hip, and turned out, the
iliopsoas lays across the hip joint. As
the leg extends and moves toward the body, if the muscle is pulled tight, it
will snap as it moves across the femoral head.
Dancers may
find that hip snapping syndrome occurs during a growth spurt since bones grow
faster than muscles and muscles are taut until they catch up.
As long as
this snapping is not painful, it does not indicate a serious problem, but it
can be a sign of a muscular imbalance.
If the snapping occurs all of the time, there is a good chance that the
bursa sacs surrounding the hip joint can become irritated. The job of a bursa sac is to provide a
cushion between soft tissue like muscles and tendons and bones to reduce
friction. As the tight tendons and muscles rub closely against the bones the
bursae may become inflamed and painful, resulting in bursitis.
Keeping the
muscles of the hip joint healthy by embarking upon a supplemental conditioning
program that strengthens and stretches all of the hip muscles equally will help
eliminate any imbalances and contribute to healthy dancing.
