Hip Labral Tear

The labrum is a ring of cartilage around the rim of your hip socket — it deepens the cup, spreads stress evenly across the joint, and seals the joint fluid inside. When the labrum tears — most often from hip impingement (FAI), trauma, or repetitive hip motion in athletes — the joint loses some of its shock absorption and the lubricating fluid leaks out. The result is groin pain and a sense that the hip is catching or clicking.

Labral tears are most common in dancers, hockey players, soccer players, and golfers — sports with deep hip motion and rotation under load. They also happen with acute injuries like a hip dislocation or hard falls. Many labral tears coexist with hip impingement (FAI) and the two conditions are often treated together.

The most common complaint is a deep, dull ache in the groin or front of the hip that sharpens with certain movements — pivoting, deep squatting, or getting in and out of a car. Many patients describe a clicking, catching, or locking sensation, as though something is getting pinched inside the joint. The pain often comes and goes at first, flaring after activity and settling with rest, which makes it easy to dismiss early on.

Prolonged sitting — especially in a low chair or car seat with the hip bent past 90 degrees — tends to bring on a deep ache that eases once you stand and move. Athletes may notice a loss of hip range of motion or a sense that the hip "gives way" during cutting and pivoting. Pain at night, particularly when lying on the affected side, is common as the tear progresses. Because labral tears frequently coexist with hip impingement (FAI), patients often have stiffness at the extremes of hip rotation as well.

The classic pattern is deep groin pain, a clicking or locking sensation, and pain at the extreme ends of hip motion. Your surgeon will use the FADIR test (bending the hip, bringing it across the body, rotating it inward) — if that reproduces your pain, it's a strong sign. MR arthrography — an MRI taken after contrast is injected into the joint — is the most sensitive way to see the tear, because the dye seeps into it and lights it up. Standard X-rays look for the FAI bony anatomy and any early arthritis.

1. Intra-articular corticosteroid injection

   An corticosteroid injection placed into the hip joint, guided by X-ray or ultrasound, both calms an acute flare AND confirms the hip itself is the pain source before any surgical conversation.

Surgery (hip arthroscopy) is considered when mechanical symptoms (true locking, catching) are present, MRI shows a clear tear, and pain hasn't responded to a real trial of non-operative care. The torn labrum is repaired or trimmed through small incisions, and any underlying bone bumps from FAI are reshaped at the same time.

External patient-education references and related OSI pages for additional background:

• Britannica — Cartilage
• Britannica — Hip (anatomy)
• AAOS OrthoInfo — patient education library
• OSI glossary — orthopedic terminology in plain language