Hip scans for runners
Common injuries and how ultrasound can spot them
If you’re a runner, you’ll know that keeping active is great for your overall mental and physical health. But running, like many other sports, often comes with its fair share of injuries.
Pounding the pavements can put significant strain on your hips – especially if you’re training regularly, increasing your distance or recovering from injury.
One of the quickest ways to diagnose running injuries is through ultrasound scan, which is quick and non-invasive and provides us with an insight into what’s happening in your body.
Common hip-related injuries in runners
If you have a hip bursitis you may experience pain on the outside of the hip, especially when lying on it or climbing stairs. The condition includes inflammation of the bursa (small fluid filled sacks that cushion the joint).
Ultrasound can diagnose hip bursitis by detecting fluid buildup and inflammation in the bursa area.
Caused by overuse or strain to the tendons that attach your muscles to bone, Tendonitis can be very painful. We can detect it on ultrasound and our Sonographers will look for any tendon thickening, microtears and reactive changes during your scan.
A sudden sharp pain, swelling or bruising could indicate a possible muscle tear. If an ultrasound scan reveals any tears, bleeding (haemotoma) this could indicate that you have a muscle tear. The scan can diagnose the injury and the extent of the muscle damage.
If you have snapping hip syndrome, you’ll be able to hear or feel a snapping sensation when your hip moves, often due to tendons catching on the bone. Real time imaging of ultrasound allows us to see the movement of the tendons and confirm the diagnosis of snapping hip syndrome.
When to book a hip scan?
If you’re experiencing persistent hip or upper thigh pain, that worsens with activity, you have swelling or bruising, or experience a popping sensation in your hip, a scan could help to diagnose the problem quickly.
Early diagnosis can prevent the problem becoming worse and although you may be reluctant to pause your training, continuing to run with an injury could cause more damage. For these reasons it's worth getting checked out as soon as you can book an appointment.