Here are the 5 top differences to know.
Whether you’ve experienced a twinge in your hip while picking up your toddler or had to skip the half marathon you’ve been training for because of dull ache—or both—hip pain can be a nagging, and at times debilitating, condition that can cause you to put life on pause.
Though dealing with an injury can sometimes feel super isolating (IYKYK), hip pain is one of the most common injuries out there. Fortunately, there are several ways to assess and treat hip pain, depending on what’s behind the issue.
Ahead, check out expert advice on how to figure out what sort of hip pain you’re dealing with, how to treat it, exercises and stretches that might help, and signs it’s time to check in with a professional.
4 causes of hip pain
One of the first key steps to eliminating hip pain is to figure out what kind of pain you’re experiencing. Good news: There’s a lot of possibilities. Bad news: There’s a lot of possibilities. But one quick distinction, which will likely need to come from a licensed medical provider, can help point you to remedy the issue.
Potential causes of hip pain frequently fall into two overarching categories: intra-articular pain—which deals with the hip joint (the joint capsule and labrum), like osteoarthritis—and extra-articular pain, which addresses problems with the muscle, tendons, and bursa that surround the hip joint, explains Jon Mayer, PT, DPT, CSCS, physical therapist at the Medical University of South Carolina.
1. Hip osteoarthritis
If your hip has started to feel creaky when you wake up, you might want to ask your doctor about this condition. “Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that leads to pain, stiffness, and inflammation in the hip. Typically, patients will experience pain in the groin, side of the hip or buttock. They can feel stiffness in the hip especially in the morning or after being seated for a long period of time,” says physical therapist Christopher Churchill, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, advanced Clinician at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
This condition becomes more prevalent in folks over the age of 50 or those who have a family history of hip osteoarthritis, Churchill says. If you’ve started to experience popping or grinding in your hip or have started to have difficulty completing daily activities like tying your shoes, several of the common symptoms per Churchill, you might want to connect with your doctor.
2. Overuse injuries
Overuse injuries are a pain, in this case, literally, in an athlete’s side. “Hip pain can stem from various causes, including common overuse injuries such as gluteal tendinitis, iliopsoas tendinitis, and bursitis. These conditions are often aggravated by repetitive activity and overload,” says Cynthia Sampson, PT DPT, a physical therapist at Bespoke Physical Therapy.
According to Churchill, overuse injuries like tendonitis and bursitis can “occur when the soft tissue structures around the hip such as tendons and bursa become inflamed due to overload from activities.” If you’re navigating gluteal tendinopathy, one of the most common hip overuse injuries, you might frequently experience pain “at the side of the hip and you may feel tender in this area,” he adds. Echoing Sampson, Churchill says you might feel pain walking or running, or after sitting for long periods and lying on the symptomatic side.
3. Hip impingement or femoroacetabular impingement (FAI)
Yet another overuse injury, hip impingements can occur when there’s “abnormal contact between the femoral head (ball of thigh bone) and acetabulum (socket of pelvis) that can eventually cause pain in the front of the hip and/or groin,” Mayer says.
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