Medical Library: Hip – Femoroacetabular Impingement

Hip pain can be difficult to live with…constant, aching pain with every step. One potential cause is Femoroacetabular impingement. Femoroacetabular impingement, also known as FAI, occurs when bone spurs form around the hip joint, causing the bone to pinch together when the hip is moved. These bone spurs form in the bottom of the ball-and-socket hip joint, or adjacent to the socket.

FAI can cause hip labral tears and may be one of the early signs of hip arthritis. Treatment of FAI can be accomplished with an arthroscopic procedure to shave down the bone spurs, called an osteoplasty.