Understanding Hip Pain
Hip Pain Can Mean Different Things
The hip is a ball-and-socket joint designed to provide both stability and a large amount of movement while supporting your body weight.
But the hip involves much more than the joint itself.
Muscles, tendons, bursae, connective tissues, nerves, and surrounding structures all contribute to how you walk, run, climb stairs, lift, squat, cycle, or balance on one leg.
That is why one of the first questions we ask is:
“Show me exactly where your hip hurts.”
The location of your symptoms gives us clues.
The examination helps us understand what those clues mean.
Common Areas & Factors We Evaluate
Front of the Hip or GroinPain in this area may involve the hip joint itself, the hip-flexor region, or other surrounding structures. | Outside of the HipOuter hip pain may involve the bursa, tendons, or other soft tissues around the greater trochanter. |
Back of the Hip or ButtockPain in this region may involve the gluteal muscles, deep hip rotators, lower back, or nerve-related symptoms. | Hip MobilityLimited motion can affect how the hip, pelvis, and lower back handle movement. |
Strength & StabilizationThe glutes and other hip stabilizers help control the pelvis and leg during walking, running, lifting, and athletic movement. | Training & Activity LoadRunning, cycling, lifting, sports, work, and sudden increases in activity can exceed what the hip is currently prepared to tolerate. |
Where you hurt gives us clues. The examination tells us what those clues mean.
How We Evaluate Hip Pain
We Start With Your Story.
Where do you feel the pain?
How did it start?
Was there an injury? Does walking, sitting, running, climbing stairs, or getting out of a chair bother it? Do you notice clicking, catching, giving way, numbness, tingling, or pain that travels? Then we evaluate how the hip and surrounding areas are functioning.
Those details give us clues.
Then we evaluate how you move and function.
01. Listen
We learn where the pain is located, how it began, what movements bother it, and what activities you want to return to.
02. Evaluate
Depending on your symptoms, we may assess:
Hip range of motion
Lower-back movement
Strength
Hip stabilizers
Orthopedic findings
Neurological function when appropriate
Walking or gait
Squatting
Single-leg control
Surrounding muscles and soft tissues
Sport-specific or activity-specific movements
03. Look at the Whole Movement System
We do not evaluate the hip in isolation.
The hip works with the lower back, knee, ankle, and surrounding muscles.
If the hip is not moving or controlling the leg the way it should, another area may begin compensating.
04. Treat & Reassess
When treatment is appropriate, we address the findings that appear relevant and then check what changed.
Did motion improve?
Did strength change?
Did the painful movement become easier?
What still is not functioning correctly?
That response helps guide what happens next.
How We May Treat Hip Pain
Your Treatment Plan Should Fit Your Hip
Chiropractic Care | Soft-Tissue Care & Active Release Techniques | Rehabilitation | When Imaging or Referral May Be Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
If joint motion in the lower back, pelvis, or hip region appears relevant, chiropractic manipulation or mobilization may be one part of treatment. We do not assume that every painful hip simply needs to be adjusted. Treatment follows the examination. | There are many muscles and soft tissues surrounding the hip that need to lengthen, shorten, stabilize the pelvis, absorb force, and produce force. When the examination identifies soft-tissue dysfunction, we may use Active Release Techniques or other hands-on approaches. Depending on the findings, this may involve tissues around the:
ART is one tool, not an automatic treatment for every hip problem. | Treatment may improve how the hip moves. Then the body needs to learn how to use that movement. If the hip is weak, we need strength. If pelvic control is limited, we need better control. If you are returning from injury, we need to gradually rebuild your ability to tolerate more demanding activity. Rehabilitation may progress from: Supported Movement → Kneeling → Standing → Loaded Movement → Activity-Specific Movement The exact progression depends on your condition and goals. A good exercise done at the wrong stage can still be the wrong exercise. | Not every person with hip pain needs an X-ray or MRI. Imaging may become more appropriate when the history or examination raises concern about things such as:
Sometimes conservative care is appropriate. Sometimes we need more information first. |
Build Function & Capacity
Build a Hip That Can Handle Your Life
One of the concepts we use frequently at McBrearty is the Capacity Bucket.
Imagine the area of your body that is bothering you has a bucket representing how much stress it can currently tolerate.
Work puts stress into it.
Exercise puts stress into it.
Sports, yardwork, lifting, sitting, and other activities all add demand.
When the total demand repeatedly exceeds your current capacity, symptoms may appear.
Sometimes the movement that hurt was not the entire problem.
It may simply have been the last thing added to a bucket that was already nearly full.
The goal is not to avoid activity forever.
The goal is to build a bigger bucket.
Treatment can help restore movement and calm symptoms.
We want you to progress from:
Whether your goal is working comfortably, returning to the gym, running, golfing, lifting, playing sports, or simply moving through the day without constantly thinking about your back, we want your body prepared to handle it.
FAQ
Can chiropractic care help hip pain?
Some hip-pain conditions may be appropriate for conservative musculoskeletal care. At McBrearty, we evaluate joint motion, strength, soft tissue, the lower back, and functional movement before determining which treatments make sense.
If the examination indicates imaging or orthopedic evaluation is more appropriate, we will recommend that instead.
Why does my hip hurt on the outside?
Outer hip pain can involve the bursa, tendons, and other soft tissues around the greater trochanter. Repetitive activity and certain positions may aggravate the area.
An examination helps determine which structures appear to be involved.
Is hip pain actually sciatica?
Sometimes people use the word “sciatica” for pain around the hip or buttock.
True sciatica generally involves nerve-related symptoms traveling along the leg. If the pain stays around the hip or lower-back/hip border, we still need to evaluate whether it actually fits a nerve pattern.
Can tight hip flexors contribute to hip or back problems?
Hip flexors influence hip and pelvic movement and may be relevant in some presentations.
But “tight hip flexors” should not be used as a diagnosis by itself. We evaluate mobility, strength, symptoms, and the rest of the movement pattern.
Should I stretch a painful hip?
It depends.
If a tissue is already irritated, aggressive stretching may not be helpful. We prefer to identify what movement is limited and why before simply telling every patient to stretch harder.
Can running or cycling cause hip pain?
Running and cycling place repetitive demand on the tissues around the hip.
Symptoms may develop when training load exceeds current capacity, especially after a rapid increase in activity or a return after time away.
Do I need an MRI for hip pain?
Not automatically.
When imaging is appropriate for chronic hip pain, X-rays are commonly used first. MRI may become appropriate when more information is needed about specific soft tissues or structures inside the joint.
What exercises are best for hip pain?
That depends on why your hip hurts and where you are in recovery.
The best exercise for one patient may be too difficult for another. We progress from appropriate foundational movements toward standing, loaded, and activity-specific exercises as function improves.
