Hip (Acetabular) Labral Tear

The hip joint is the largest ball and socket joint in the body. This joint is surrounded by and lined with soft tissue (tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and labrum) that helps to stabilize the femoral head (ball) within the acetabular fossa (socket).

The acetabular labrum is a cup-like rim of fibrocartilage that surrounds the ball (femoral head) of the joint and deepens the socket (acetabular fossa) for the femoral head to sit in. It's depth creates a suction effect providing stability in the joint by holding the femoral head in the socket.

A hip labral tear most often occurs in the lip of the fibrocartilage along the rim of the labrum. Although it is not common, if there's a loose piece of cartilage from the tear, it may catch within the joint and cause a snapping sensation known snapping hip syndrome. Injury to the labrum, or any of the other stabilizing tissues, can cause the joint to weaken, misalign and/or become unstable. This leaves the hip at further risk of injury and/or dislocation.

Symptoms of a Labral Tear of the Hip

Hip labral tear symptoms are similar to other conditions such as groin strain, sports hernia, and snapping hip syndrome making it difficult to diagnose. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms we recommend you see a doctor for a proper diagnosis.

• A snapping or clicking in the hip joint
• A sharp catching pain in the hip that may be felt in the front (anterior) thigh
• Pain deep in the groin
• An unstable feeling in the hip, like it may give way
• The pain may become worse when the hip is flexed or internally rotated
• A limited range of motion in the hip
• Difficulty sleeping on the injured side

Causes of Acetabular Labral Tears

A labral tear in the hip joint can be a result of degeneration of the tissue over time or from a traumatic (acute) injury.

People with extremely flexible hip joints, such as dancers, gymnasts, and yoga enthusiast are at greater risk of a degenerative tear. A degenerative tear occurs with repetitive use and activity wearing down the tissue. Without proper healing time, the worn tissue eventually weakens and tears. A degenerative labral tear is often an early sign of hip arthritis.

An acute labral tear happens immediately during an accident, fall or sports injury. A sudden twist or blow to the hip joint may cause the hip to dislocate (subluxation) and the labrum to tear.

Treating Your Torn Labrum

Initial treatment of a torn labrum in the hip should focus on resting your hip and reducing inflammation to help relieve pain. Minor labral tears are often treated with non-invasive conservative treatment therapies such as cold compression and Circulatory Boost.

• the use of a Cold Compress or Ice Pack will control pain and reduce swelling.
• Circulatory Boost through use of a TShellz Wrap^® will heal your labrum faster, increase the length and elasticity of soft tissue and improve the overall health of all the tissue in the joint by delivering an abundance of nutrients to the area.

During your recovery, you will have to modify and/or eliminate any activities that cause pain or discomfort in your hip joint and leg until your pain and inflammation settle, and you gain more mobility and strength in your acetabular joint. The more diligent you are with your treatment and rehabilitation, the faster you will see successful results!

Cold Compression

To decrease inflammation and relieve the pain of a labral tear doctor's recommend cold therapy within the first 72 hours of an injury. This is an effective way to relieve pain and swelling while limiting the amount of damage done to your recently injured soft tissue.

Cold compression works by interrupting and slowing nerve and tissue function in the injured area and reducing swelling that can block blood vessels. This is important because once blood vessels are blocked or damaged, they can no longer carry oxygen and nutrients to your labrum and tissues begin to break-down. Without cold, damage continues as tissues break-down - they cannot get the oxygen they need to survive. By limiting the amount of damage done to your soft tissue, you also limit the amount of healing that needs to occur. This is an important step in healing your labral tear faster and with less pain!

TShellz Wrap^®: for a Labral Tear

After severe inflammation and swelling is reduced, it is time to take the next step in your soft tissue tear treatment. Use a Back/Hip TShellz Wrap^® to improve blood flow while simultaneously helping surrounding soft tissue to become elongated and more elastic. What this means is that not only is increased blood flow helping maximize the body's capability to heal tissue, the treated tissues are now longer and more elastic due to the heat side effect from the application of a TShellz Wrap^®. The TShellz Wrap^® is the perfect home treatment - helping to increase flexibility while simultaneously boosting the body's capability to heal via stimulated blood flow.

In addition, the improved blood flow obtained by using the TShellz Wrap helps reduce the risk of atrophy in your muscles. When you stop moving your leg and hip due to pain, your muscles and other tissue become weaker, and dead tissue and toxins in the area build up due to lack of circulation. This can cause further tissue deterioration and lead to atrophy in your quadriceps, hamstrings and other leg muscles. By clearing the area of toxins and increasing the amount of oxygen and nutrients to your labrum and other tissue, the risk of atrophy(muscle weakness and/or deterioration) is greatly reduced.

Keeping your upper leg and hip joint tissue as healthy and limber as possible throughout the healing process will allow you to improve hip strength again once your pain has gone and your labral tear has healed. Dedicated use of a TShellz Wrap^® will help you achieve this.

Rehabilitation Exercise for Soft Tissue Tears

PT is a beneficial way to restore atrophied muscles and improve strength and mobility after significant periods of reduced mobility (usually due to a soft tissue tear or injury). The type of PT and the duration will be dependent on the tissue damage and your symptoms. When you are treating or recovering from tears in muscles, tendons or ligaments, it is important to adhere to the instructions of the physical therapist to ensure you are doing exercises properly and not under-doing it or overdoing it, as this will increase your risk of soft tissue re-injury.

Once your pain starts to diminish, a physiotherapist will set up an individualized strengthening and stretching exercise program for you to perform at home or in the gym. This will be based on your needs and abilities, and will help you return to performing your normal routines.

Individuals will often lift weights on their own, to try and build up their strength. However, in doing so, they can do more damage to their joint. It is extremely important to strengthen your muscles properly, as they may have weakened during the period of non-use. A trained therapist will help to ensure your rehabilitation process is appropriate and effective. For best, long term results use TShellz Wraps^® at home, in conjunction with PT and an exercise program.

We've helped thousands of people treat their painful injuries and conditions to get them back on the road to a pain-free life!

Our customer service lines are open 5 days a week helping people understand their injuries and how to treat them. Simply call toll free 1-866-237-9608 to talk or place an order with one of our knowledgeable Product Advisers. They have the ability to answer questions and even put together a treatment plan for you.

TShellz Wraps^® contain a unique Carbon Fiber Energy Pad which is flexible and will shape to conform to your body. This Energy Pad emits a uniform wave of perfectly safe energy over its entire surface. This energy is absorbed by soft tissue in the treatment area, opening blood vessels, resulting in an increase in blood flow. Increased blood circulation is what your body needs to maximize its cabability of healing soft tissue and this is why we recommend the TShellz Wrap^®.

The Back/Hip TShellz Wrap^® is an FDA Registered Medical Device and is suitable for use in therapeutic clinics and FROM HOME. It is completely safe for people and patients to use for themselves.

The technology found in a TShellz Wrap^® has been used for decades in the worlds of professional and amateur sports - a contributing factor as to why athletes seem to recover from injuries so quickly.

Have you ever wondered by an athlete can return to activity after 4 or 5 weeks following a hip injury - while your average person takes much longer to return back to normal? The secret isn't really that much of a secret - it involves consistent treatments (meaning multiple times a day) using a treatment like the TShellz Wrap^® to stimulate blood flow to the injured tissues. Most athletes have the luxury of using in-house facilities many times per day.

How many us can afford the time and money to visit a clinic multiple times a day? Very few indeed. This is how you can gain some of the advantages that athletes enjoy in their injury recovery - by using a device like the Back/Hip TShellz Wrap^® two or three times a day on a consistent basis.

What Else Makes the Back/Hip TShellz Wrap^® So Special?

We believe the TShellz Wrap^® to be one of the most effective home treatments to increase localized blood flow to soft tissue in and around the treatment area.

We can promise that you will receive a product that is designed to be safe and does what it is supposed to do... reduce pain (as stated in "Therapeutic Heat and Cold", 4th edition. - Ed. Justus F. Lehmann, M.D., Williams, and Wilkin) temporarily increase length & flexibility of soft tissue (as stated in "Therapeutic Heat and Cold", 4th edition. - Ed. Justus F. Lehmann, M.D., Williams, and Wilkin) and aid your body in recovering from tendon, muscle and other soft tissue injuries via enhanced blood flow.

The unit plugs into a standard wall outlet to get its power. The nice thing about the power supply is that the same unit can be used in North America and overseas as well. It has the capability to operate between 110v and 230v.

The TShellz Wrap^® has a special signal controller that can be set for 3 different power levels of application (3=High, 2=Medium, 1=Low). The cord is long enough that you can sit or lie comfortably and watch TV, read or surf the net while you're using it.

Treatments are max 30 minutes in duration and the device can be worn over clothing. This allows you to use the device at work, at home, or really anywhere you have access to an electrical outlet.

Conservative treatment tools just like these have been used successfully by thousands of hip injury sufferers - just like you.

We believe the use of TShellz Wraps^® for boosting blood flow to soft tissue in the area of application is one of the most under-utilized home treatment options available on the market today. We have client after client that have tried many options out there and have been amazed at how effective and fast the TShellz Wrap treatment can relieve pain and increase blood flow in the hip.

With regular use of the Back/Hip TShellz Wrap:

• Your pain due to soft tissue strain will be reduced*.
• Due to increased blood flow, soft tissue in the treatment area on the hip will be expected to recover at an accelerated rate. Increased extensibility of soft tissue due to the heat application will also help reduce the risk of worsening the injury while mobile*.
• Tissue in the treated area should experience a larger range of motion and increased extensibility of collagen tissue* due to the heat effect on soft tissue. This should translate into a reduced rate of re-injury occurrence as soft tissue is known to lengthen and become more flexible when exposed to warm temperature. (*Chapter 9 of "Therapeutic Heat and Cold", 4th edition. (amazon.com link - Ed. Justus F. Lehmann, M.D., Williams, and Wilkin)

Product Advisors are available 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time Monday to Friday.

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During your recovery, you will probably have to modify and/or eliminate any activities that cause pain or discomfort at the location of your soft tissue injury until the pain and inflammation settle. Always consult your doctor and/or Physical Therapist before using any of our outstanding products, to make sure they are right for you and your condition. The more diligent you are with your treatment and rehabilitation, the faster you will see successful results!