Hip pain comes in a variety of different forms. Hip pain can be in the front, side or the back of the hip, but not always caused by the hip. The majority of hip pain starts with where does it hurt and, most importantly, when did it start?
- If the hip pain starts after a different type of pain, the pain being felt is probably compensatory.
- If the hip pain started in the hip, then we have a starting point. Pain in the front of the hip can be from the hip joint, hip flexor strains, or even abdominal/pelvic referral (1).
- Pain on the side of the hip is most often referred to as a busitis, but in actuallity is a tenindopathy of one of the three glute muscles. The term used nowadays is greater trochanteric pain syndrome, but it lacks specificity (1).
- Hip pain in the back of the hip, can arise from the lumbar spine (low back), sciatic nerve entrapment, hip impingement, or hamstring tendinopathy (1).
- As we age, stiffness of the hip joint and groin pain may be related to osteoarthritis of the hip (2). The hip is complex, like the shoulder and has a suprising amount of muscular attachments and ligaments.
The most common injuries to the hip in young and middle aged active adults are: 1) hip impingement, 2) dysplasia and/or instability, and 3) labral, chondral, of ligament conditions (3).
