The hidden heroes of hip movement: uncovering the deep hip rotators with Dr Laura Diamond
Mar 20, 2024
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Dr. Laura Diamond discusses research on deep hip rotators in walking, their role in hip pain and osteoarthritis. The podcast explores muscle demands, load distribution, and biomechanical mechanisms impacting musculoskeletal conditions. Insights into hip joint stability, loading, and potential implications for exercise prescription.
Deep hip rotators do not contribute significantly to joint stiffness during walking, contrary to common assumptions.
Deep hip muscles can alter hip loading direction, potentially protecting cartilage in conditions like femoroacetabular impingement syndrome.
Deep dives
Function of Deep Hip Muscles in Joint Stiffness
Despite traditional assumptions, research by Dr. Laura Diamond indicates that the deep hip muscles do not significantly contribute to joint stiffness during walking, even when activated maximally. Contrary to expectations, these muscles did not play a substantial role in stabilizing the hip joint in the sagittal plane. The findings challenge common clinical practices that target these muscles for joint stability in individuals with hip pain or joint diseases.
Deep Hip Muscles' Role in Hip Joint Loading
Dr. Laura Diamond's research revealed that while the deep hip muscles may not stiffen the joint during walking, they can alter the direction of hip loading. These muscles can potentially shift the position of loading, redistributing it away from the rim towards a more cartilage-friendly area. This function may have clinical implications for conditions like femoroacetabular impingement syndrome, aiming to protect areas prone to damage.
Modifiability of Hip Joint Loading and Implications for Arthritis
Laura Diamond's studies suggest that inadequate hip joint loading can be as detrimental as excessive loading, impacting cartilage health. Through biomechanical interventions aimed at modifying patients' gait patterns, loading at the hip joint can be adjusted to improve cartilage health. By utilizing biomechanical feedback and personalized strategies, patients may enhance hip loading distribution, potentially benefiting conditions like hip osteoarthritis and femoroacetabular impingement syndrome. Future research will explore individualized approaches to optimize load modifications for improved joint health outcomes.
In this episode with Laura, we discuss her research on the role of the deep hip rotators during walking and functional tasks and how this can affect us clinically with our exercise prescription to patients with hip pain and/or hip osteoarthritis. We also discuss the different demands and loads of these small muscles during walking and their potential capabilities.
Dr Laura Diamond is a Research Leader in Griffith Centre of Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering (GCORE) and Associate Professor in the School of Health Sciences and Social Work at Griffith University, and holds an honorary Research Fellow position in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland. She is a trained biomedical engineer (BEng, MASc, Dalhousie University, Canada) leading a research program focused on development and application of novel technologies to understand and treat the biomechanical mechanisms that underlie musculoskeletal and orthopaedic conditions.
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Our host is @sarah.yule from Physio Network
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