Runner’s hips don’t lie: Long-distance running damages hip joints is incorrect!

The marathon is on the list of “must do” activities for many runners. More and more people embrace running for entertainment and competition reasons. Although running is a large stress molecule and has many cardiovascular benefits, it is assumed to cause harm in the lower limbs. Most relevant running studies focus on runners’ knee health, but little is known about the effects of long-distance running on runners’ hip health. Due to the lack of complex diagnostic tools, progress in hip injury management and diagnosis is limited, which are sensitive and specific, sufficient to identify the pathogenesis of the hip joint as soon as possible.

Researchers led by Dr. Laura Maria Horga of University College London and Professor Alister Hart of University College London and Mr. Johann Henckel, Dr. Anastasia Fotiadou and Anna Di Laura of Royal National Orthopedic Hospital and Dr. Anna Hirschmann of University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland, used Advanced 3.0 Tesla MRI technology to evaluate invalid non-contenders, moderately active Hip health status for runners and highly active runners. To this end, 52 asymptomatic individuals were subjected to a bilateral hip 3.0 Tesla MRI. The MRI findings were scored by two independent musculoskeletal radiation physicians using a validated scoring system. In addition, these individuals also rate their perceived hip function as a self-assessed Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) questionnaire. The study was published in the journal BMJ opens sports and sports medicine.

This prospective cohort study found that moderately active and highly active runners had no major hip injury compared to non-runners. In particular, according to the MRI findings, the researchers concluded that no active non-runners, moderately active runners and highly active runners did not have lip bone abnormalities, articular cartilage lesions, tendon abnormalities, ligament abnormalities. Major differences. .

Only a few small bone marrow findings are more common in some runners than in non-runners, but these findings are painless and do not attract clinical attention.

Similarly, contrary to common belief, highly active runners may be most likely to experience cartilage and subchondral bone marrow injuries, and in fact, highly active runners have reported no articular cartilage lesions or bone marrow edema.

Furthermore, HOOS questionnaire scores indicated that there were no self-reported hip symptoms or functional problems between the three groups of participants.

“This study is the first to evaluate hip health in asymptomatic runners using large sample size and high resolution MRI technology,” said Dr. Laura Maria Horga, corresponding author of the paper. . Among moderately active runners, only bone marrow edema is more common than among inactive non-runners and highly active runners, and among runners, it is more common among runners than among non-runners, While these cysts are secondary/small in size, all asymptomatic, all asymptomatic, all cysts. Nonspecific, therefore no specific exercise-related strains are indicated. These findings help correct the prevalent misunderstanding, i.e., long distances Running can damage the hips, so you should consider it when making health recommendations.”

Journal Reference and Image Credit

Horga, Laura Maria, Johann Henckel, Anastasia Fotiadou, Anna Di Laura, Anna Hirschmann and Alister Hart. “3.0 t MRI discovery for 104 hip asymptomatic adults: from non-runners to hyper-distance runners.” BMJ Open Sports & Sports Medicine 7, Issue 1. 2 (2021): E000997. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2020-000997

Main image credit:pexel

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