Snapping hip

What it is

There are two common versions. Internal snapping is the iliopsoas tendon flicking over the pelvic brim at the front of the hip, felt deep in the groin when straightening the hip from a flexed position. External snapping is the iliotibial band or gluteus maximus tendon flicking over the bony point at the side of the hip.

Painless snapping is common, harmless and needs no treatment. It becomes a problem when the repeated catching irritates the tendon or the bursa beneath it, at which point the snap becomes painful and the underlying muscle imbalance is worth addressing.

What it feels like

• An audible or palpable snap, click or clunk with specific hip movements
• Internal: deep in the groin, on straightening the hip from a bent position
• External: at the side of the hip, on walking, running or rotating
• Often painless, and sometimes a sense of the hip dislocating that is not real
• When painful, an ache in the groin or the outer hip after activity

What causes it

Most people have more than one of these at once, and they feed each other. Read the list looking for the two or three that sound like your week rather than for the one true answer — the ones that describe you are the ones worth acting on.

The iliopsoas tendon over the pelvic brim

As the hip straightens from a flexed position the tendon shifts over a bony ridge and snaps. It is felt deep in the groin and is very common in dancers and gymnasts.

The iliotibial band over the greater trochanter

The band or the gluteus maximus tendon flicks over the bony point at the side of the hip during walking, running or rotation.

A tight iliopsoas

A short, tight hip flexor from sitting or from repetitive flexion sport is more likely to catch. It is the most modifiable factor in the internal version.

A tight iliotibial band and tensor fasciae latae

Increased tension across the outside of the hip makes the band more likely to snap over the trochanter.

Weak glutes

Poor gluteal control allows more hip adduction and internal rotation, which increases the tension across the outside of the hip and the demand on the deep hip flexors.

Repetitive hip flexion sport

Dance, gymnastics, football and running all involve repeated movement through the exact range where snapping occurs.

A recent increase in training

A snap that has always been there becoming painful usually follows a jump in volume rather than any new anatomical change.

Hip joint pathology - the different one

A labral tear or loose body can produce clicking or catching inside the joint. Deep groin pain with catching and locking is different from a tendon snapping over bone and deserves assessment.

Anxiety about the noise

The sensation that the hip is dislocating is common and untrue. The worry itself often produces guarding and altered movement.

Who tends to get it

• Dancers and gymnasts, in whom internal snapping is very common
• Runners, for the external version
• Anyone with tight hip flexors from sitting or from sport
• People with weak glutes
• Anyone who has recently increased training volume

What makes it worse, and what settles it

The qFIT routine for this

Ready-made routineHip Relief & Rotation

qFIT already has this one built. It runs massage first, then stretching, then strength — the order that works on a body that is already sore — and every activity in it carries the reason it is there.

The button below opens your Checklist with this routine already selected, so instead of your whole list you land on just its Categories, Targets and Exercises, each with its checkbox, ready to tick as you work through them.

Have more than one problem? Tick yours under My Problems on My Profile and your Checklist's Routine list gains Recommended for my problems — every routine for the problems you picked, merged into one. Your picks stay private; that filter is the only thing they feed.

Get it checked if…

Painless snapping needs no treatment at all; painful snapping with catching may indicate a labral tear

And whatever the body part: chest pain or unusual breathlessness on exertion; a fever alongside the pain; unexplained weight loss; pain that is constant and unrelated to how you move; new numbness, weakness or loss of bladder or bowel control; or one calf that is swollen, warm and painful. Any of those, stop and get assessed.

How it usually goes

Painless snapping needs no treatment and often persists indefinitely without ever causing a problem. Where it has become painful, stretching, soft tissue work and gluteal strengthening settle most cases over six to twelve weeks, though the snap itself frequently remains. Deep groin pain with true catching, locking or giving way is a joint problem rather than a tendon one and is worth having assessed.

Prevalence basis: Sports medicine series

Others the same routine covers

These share the Hip Relief & Rotation routine, so the work is the same. If one of them also sounds like you, that is a reason to expect more from it, not less.

This is general information, not a diagnosis, and it cannot examine you. If it matches you, use it to ask better questions of a clinician rather than to replace one.