- Treatment is decided upon on a case-by-case basis after your doctor or orthopedist assesses the extent of damage to the hip bone and joint. An MRI enables her to decide which type of treatment she will prescribe. Common treatment options include RICE, which stands for rest, ice, compression and exercise; NSAIDs; physical therapy; corticosteroids; and surgery.
- Administer RICE within the first minutes or hours of the incident in which the tendon snapped. Although this is usually an initial line of treatment, it may suffice if the pain or the impact of the injury is low. Again, your doctor should determine the course of treatment. In some cases, to ease movement, he will prescribe crutches for a period of time to ensure adequate rest of the affected area.
- Most lines of medication start with NSAIDs, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen or naproxen. These help ease pain, and are usually not advised as long-term treatment options, unless you show tolerance to the treatment or feel relief over long periods with this class of drugs. Corticosteroids are the next step in medical care; these are prescribed if you still experience pain after using NSAIDs.
Physical therapy is often used in conjunction with NSAIDs or corticosteroids and is essentially aimed at strengthening through general endurance and sport-specific exercises.
In most cases, surgery is not used for a torn hip tendon---even for complex or complete tears---because the muscle tissue is not amenable to surgical repair, and most injuries that occur at the muscle-tendon joint involve the muscles.
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