Keep Her Playing: Female Athlete Conference
Unlock Your Potential: Preventing ACL Injuries & Understanding Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
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Whether you’re a weekend runner training for that first 5k or a professional athlete, the Hartford HealthCare Bone & Joint Institute’s Women’s Sports Health Program is here for you.
We provide personalized care designed to help women and girls achieve their athletic goals while treating and helping to prevent injuries.
Our goal: a collaborative approach to care that helps women live the most active and healthy life possible.
Conditions we treat:
- Not every hit to the head is a concussion. A minor impact can cause a traumatic headache or migraine rather than a concussion and is often misdiagnosed as a concussion. Our women’s sports health neurologist will provide an individualized diagnosis and treatment plan so patients can perform at their best.
• Exercise Related Pain During Pregnancy, Post-Partum
- Hip Bursitis is inflammation of the bursa over the greater trochanter of the hip. Hip Bursitis is:
- More common in females than males and occurs more in middle age women
- Causes pain at the point of the hip. Initially it is described as sharp and intense, later can become a dull ache.
- Typically, the pain is worse at night, when lying on the affected hip, and when getting up from a chair after being seated for a while.
- It also may get worse with prolonged walking, stair climbing, or squatting.
- Treatments include NSAIDs, rest, physical therapy, steroid injections
- Hip Flexor Tendonitis occurs when inflammation occurs usually due to overuse or weakness in the muscles around the tendon.
- Pain is usually to the anterior hip and occurs over a period of time
- The pain usually subsides with rest but worsens when the aggravating activity is performed
- Commonly occur to athletes where their sports requires a lot of kicking, running or jumping
- May also occur in women who primarily do desk jobs and the muscles in their hips become weak from sitting for long periods. The hip flexor tendon tends to contract during this time and can become inflamed.
- Treatment includes physical therapy for stretching and strengthening, ice, and NSAIDS or Tylenol
- Hip Impingement, also known as femoroacetabular impingement, occurs when extra bone growth develops either side of the hip joint and can cause abnormal rubbing that causes pain. Usually this occurs when your hip do not develop normally but symptoms may not occur to the much later in life.
- Athletic or active patients are at higher risk for developing symptoms earlier than those who have hip impingement and are not active. However some active people with impingement may not get symptoms.
- Women have a higher rate of hip dysplasia and increased joint mobility which tend to cause more symptoms with a lesser degree of pathology than males.
- Pain occurs when the cartilage or labrum get damaged due to the bone over growth.
- Most patients describe pain extending from their groin to the outside of their hip. Many people describe the pain as sharp with certain activities or movements. Twisting your hip inward or deep squatting may be two positions that cause pain.
- If your pain persists you may want to seek attention from one of our Orthopedic Sports Specialists.
- Imaging: X-rays, MRI arthrogram, and ultrasound guided injections are all helpful with diagnosis
- Conservative treatment includes activity modification, physical therapy, and NSAIDs
- Surgical management may include hip arthroscopy to repair any labral damage and shave down the bone overgrowth.
• Hip Labral Tears
- There are many different causes of hip pain in women and it’s important to seek medical attention if your symptoms persist for more than a few days or weeks. The female pelvis is designed different than males in order to accommodate child bearing and increases the risk for certain hip pains or injuries. While diagnosing the cause of hip pain in women can be complicated, a discussion with a qualified provider can help rule in or out some the common diagnoses. The location of your hip pain and your age are just two of the factors that help us to determine the causes of your pain.
- Osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage wears away over time, this decreases the amount of joint space and can cause pain.
- Facts about osteoarthritis
- More common in women over 50 years of age, but can occur earlier.
- Pain usually is usually described as a constant ache, but can be sharp. Patients usually report their pain is coming from groin and going into the thigh or knee, sometimes radiates to the buttocks.
- The hip joint can become stiff and there may be a decrease in the amount of motion through the hip.
- Pain can limit ability to walk and can cause changes in your gait.
- While osteoarthritis is not curable, there are many treatments that may provide pain relief including:
- Avoiding, limiting, or modify activities that aggravate the pain.
- If you are overweight, losing weight always decreases stress on your joints.
- Physical therapy can help to stretch and strengthen the muscles around the hip joint which may take some pressure off and reduce pain.
- Medications include: Tylenol, NSAIDs, and cortisone injections.
- Surgical management may include a hip replacement
- Pelvic pain during pregnancy due to exercise can be common. Always discuss these symptoms with your OBGYN. Your OBGYN may refer you to physical therapy if the pain is related to changes during your pregnancy. We have physical therapists who are pelvic specialists that are experts in treating these problems. If your OBGYN has further concerns your pain maybe an orthopedic problem one of our orthopedic sports specialists would be happy to see you.
Our Team
Nicole LaVette, APRN
Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery |
Stefanie Bourassa, DPT
Sports Medicine Clinical Program Manager |
Contact Us
860.972.5945