A hip labral tear is an injury to the ring of cartilage (thelabrum) around the hip socket.
The labrum is essential for hip joint stability.
The cartilage rim deepens the socket and holds the leg bone in place while allowing movement and flexibility.
Verywell / Alexandra Gordon
Conditions affecting the joint’s structure can also lead to a labrum tear.
Causes
There are two general types of hip labral tears: degenerative tears and traumatic injuries.
Symptoms
The extent of the labral tear determines the severity of your symptoms.
When degenerative tears begin, they’re small or may only cause fraying on the ligament’s edges.
Your symptoms are mild at first but become more severe as the tearing or fraying gradually worsens.
By comparison, traumatic tears occur suddenly, often causing the labrum to pull away from the bone.
These injuries cause immediate, severe pain.
It also cant hold lubricating fluid in the joint.
These two problems increase the stress on the cartilage, accelerating the damage and raising the risk for osteoarthritis.
Does a Labral Tear Need Treatment?
Once symptoms begin, treatment is essential because the labrum won’t heal on its own.
The ring of cartilage has a limited blood supply, preventing it from receiving the oxygen needed for healing.
Diagnosis
A hip labral tear can be difficult to diagnose.
In some cases, they may inject a contrast dye to get a better view of the labrum.
If your pain improves, then the labrum is the problem.
If your pain persists, it’s due to a health problem other than the labrum.
Treatment
Treatment for a labral tear begins with the most conservative but appropriate treatment for your injury.
If noninvasive treatments don’t help, your healthcare provider may recommend minimally invasive procedures or arthroscopic hip surgery.
Anti-Inflammatory Medications
Over-the-counteranti-inflammatory medicationscan diminish joint inflammation and pain.
Cortisone Injection
Acortisoneinjection provides pain relief by reducing inflammation.
Your pain relief may last days, months, or possibly years (each person responds differently).
During hip arthroscopy, your surgeon makes two to five small incisions.
They guide an arthroscope into the hip joint through one incision.
They keep the arthroscope in the joint and insert surgical instruments through the other incisions.
It usually takes six weeks but depends on the extent of the surgical repair.
Athletes typically return to competitive play in two to six months.
Will a hip labral tear lead to hip replacement?
Once the tear occurs, it won’t heal on its own.
Treatment for a hip labral tear includes rest, physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications, and joint injections.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Hip labral tear.
AmericanPhysical Therapy Association: ChoosePT.Physical therapy guide to hip labral tears.
NYU Langone Health.Therapeutic injections for hip labral tears.
US Department of Veterans Affairs.Hip arthroscopy labral tears.
Hospital for Special Surgery.Labral tear of the hip.
Arthroscopy.2020 Aug;36(8):2137-2144. doi:10.1016/j.arthro.2020.04.031.
