The hip labrum is a ring of cartilage that seals and stabilises the hip joint. When it tears, it can cause deep groin pain, clicking, and restricted movement. Understanding the cause and extent of the tear is the first step toward effective treatment.
Reviewed byProf Paul Lee MBBch, FRCS (Tr & Orth), PhDLast reviewed 1 May 2026
The most common cause is femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), where abnormal bone shape at the hip creates friction during movement and gradually damages the labrum. Other causes include traumatic injury, hip dysplasia, and degenerative wear.
Labral tears can present with a range of symptoms that often overlap with other hip conditions:
Treatment depends on the severity of the tear, associated pathology, and your functional goals. Our hip specialists offer the full range of options from conservative management to arthroscopic repair.
When FAI is present alongside the labral tear, addressing both the bone shape and the labral damage in a single procedure gives the best chance of a lasting result and protects the hip cartilage from further wear.
You may have more options than you think
At London Cartilage Clinic we follow a structured clinical framework across four areas of treatment. Before recommending a single procedure, we assess which combination of approaches gives you the best outcome.
Protect what you have. Slow degeneration and manage symptoms.
Fix specific damage. Torn tissue, unstable joints, structural problems.
Rebuild lost tissue. Biological treatments that stimulate new growth.
When other options are exhausted. Joint replacement as a last resort.
Explore the full range of treatments available for your joint. Each hub page shows every option we offer, organised by clinical approach.
The labrum has a limited blood supply, particularly in the areas most commonly torn. Small tears with mild symptoms may be managed conservatively with physiotherapy and injection therapy, but tears causing mechanical symptoms or instability are unlikely to heal without surgical repair.
Diagnosis involves clinical examination (specific provocation tests for the hip) combined with MRI arthrogram, which uses contrast dye to improve visualisation of the labrum. Standard MRI without contrast can miss smaller tears.
A torn labrum disrupts the seal of the hip joint, increasing contact stress on the articular cartilage. Over time, this can accelerate cartilage wear and lead to early-onset hip arthritis, particularly if femoroacetabular impingement is also present.
Treatment ranges from physiotherapy and targeted injection therapy for mild cases to arthroscopic labrum repair for tears causing instability, mechanical symptoms, or progressive cartilage damage. If FAI is present, the impinging bone is corrected at the same time.
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