Hip Joint

00:01 The hip joint is a well-used joint with lots of issues that we need to look at and address.

00:06 I want to talk about doing an examination of the hip.

00:08 While the hip has flexion and extension problems, abduction and adduction problems, and internal and external rotation problems, most of the things you’ll see in the offers are going to be flexion and extension, and internal and external rotation. When I start to evaluate a patient with hip symptoms, I usually start with the Thomas test. Here is the Thomas test.

00:28 Flex both of your knees and hold them close to your belly.

00:32 Let one foot go and see how far it goes down.

00:35 If it goes to 90 degrees, that’s a good sign.

00:39 Now, try the other leg. Hold that leg. Have this leg come down.

00:43 That goes down too. So he’s got good hip flexion on both legs.

00:47 The next thing I want to do is assess internal and external rotation.

00:52 So, if I turn the foot inward, the hip externally rotates and he’s got good external rotation. When you take the foot outward, you're internally rotating the hip. He does not want to internally rotate.

01:07 So, he has an internal rotation restriction or dysfunction of external rotation.

01:13 What I will do is I will take him internally and have him push against me this way.

01:19 Push, two, three and relax. I’m going to try and take it further.

01:24 Push again, one, two, three, and relax. You may feel it on the other side as well.

01:30 Push against me again, one, two, three, and relax. I generally do three to five repetitions of a muscle energy procedure.

01:39 So again, it’s always important to diagnose the lesion and treat it accordingly.

01:44 Thank you.