Question
I recently experienced a rather large pop in my left hip joint during
basketball. I had a groin pull on the opposite side and might have been  
favoring the left, not sure. It was like a massive knuckle pop. The pain was
not too intense. I expected it too fade but it recurred with certain motions
during that game. Symptoms faded relatively quickly.  I walked a great deal
but avoided running for a couple weeks (more based on slightly compressed
disc than hip). It happened again the next time I played. And once more
since. Seems like soreness is a bit worse this time.  I'm guessing I need to
have it looked at, but was wondering what rehab might work. Specifically
curious about low-weight reps on Nautilus. Was also riding stationary quite
often. No symptoms on bike.   Thanks very much.  

Answer
Dear Dav,

I would suggest that you have it looked at by a chiropractic sports physician or an orthopedist rather than a general practitioner.

The most likely scenario in this case is just minor hip joint instability which is allowing the popping to occur when the joint capsule is stretched. You should be able to stabilize the hip joint with strengthening exercise of the adductor and abductor muscle groups as well as the gluteal muscles.

It is possible that you have actually injured the lining of the inside of the hip joint called the labrum, but this usually causes a fair amount of pain especially with compression.  There are specific orthopedic tests designed to stress the anatomy of the hip joint and look for dysfunction that will help lead to a diagnosis.  

Concerning the low weight reps on nautilus and riding the bike...these should both be fine for conditioning of proper joint mechanics as long as your form is good, while working to strengthen the hip area, however, it may not give additional stability to the joint.  Exercise is great for issue such as this, but you need to make sure that the chosen exercises are appropriate for the anatomy where the dysfunction has occurred.  It is much better to be specific when it comes to conditioning and rehab rather than general.  With that being said, again I would suggest that you have a professional examine the hip area, and perform gait analysis as well.  If there is an internal derangement, you do not want it to get worse...and if this is just movement disorder, then you want to correct it appropriately.

Hope this helped Dav.

Respectfully,
Dr. J. Shawn Leatherman
www.suncoasthealthcare.net