Muscle Review: The Indirect Head of Rectus Femoris

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Rectus femoris tendinopathy is an often overlooked sports injury. The rectus femoris muscle has two distinct origins:
• The direct head with its insertion on the anterior inferior iliac spine.
• The indirect head with its insertion on superior acetabular ridge.

Tendinopathy of the indirect head may present like FAI, however unlike 'True FAI' this tendinopathy responds fairly well to manual therapy specifically if you target external and internal rotators of the hip along with hip flexors.

The Indirect Head of Rectus Femoris

More to Explore

Bardakos, N.V. (2015). Hip impingement: beyond femoroacetabular. J Hip Preserv Surg.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27011843

Carton, P., Filan, D. (2016). Anterior Inferior Iliac Spine (AIIS) and Subspine Hip Impingement. Muscles Ligaments Tendons J. 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28066737

Moraux, A., Wawer, R., Lefevbre, G., Cotten, H., Demondion, X., Cotten, A. (2015). An anatomical study of the indirect tendon of the rectus femoris using ultrasonography. Eur Radiol.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25981219

Moraux, A., Balbi, V., ... Khalil, C. (2017). Sonographic Overview of Usual and Unusual Disorders of the Rectus Femoris Tendon Origins. J Ultrasound Med. 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28857221

Ryan, J. M., Harris, J. D., Graham, W. C., Virk, S. S., & Ellis, T. J. (2014). Origin of the Direct and Reflected Head of the Rectus Femoris: An Anatomic Study. Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24793210