Lateral Hip Pain

Story

Connected to · 1

regulates · 1

Tendon Recovery
Gluteal tendinopathy is a primary local source of lateral hip pain, and it follows the same rule as other tendon problems: mechanical load drives the biology inside a tendon, and left unused, the force it can bear only shrinks. What differs is that moving the thigh toward the midline presses these two tendons against bone, so the exercise has to load them in tension while avoiding that compression; in one randomized trial, education plus exercise brought more overall improvement than a steroid injection at one year, with similar pain.

Read full story

Stop 1/5

Where it hurts, and what hurts

EVIDENCEREVIEW 1

READ THE ORIGINAL

Feel the outside of the top of your thigh and you will find a bony bump, the greater trochanter. Two buttock muscles, the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, attach their tendons to it; they steady the pelvis when you walk or stand on one leg.

Trouble in these two tendons (gluteal tendinopathy) is now recognized as a primary local source of lateral hip pain. It mostly occurs in mid-life, in both active and inactive people, and more in women than men. It interferes with side-lying sleep and with everyday weight-bearing movements such as walking and climbing stairs. Many people call this pain bursitis; this story is about another source now considered more important: the tendon itself.

Hip pain after a fall with a leg that cannot take your weight, or pain with a fever and a red, swollen, hot joint, is not what this story is about. See a doctor in person promptly.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.

Back

Lateral Hip Pain

Story

Connected to · 1

regulates · 1

Tendon Recovery
Gluteal tendinopathy is a primary local source of lateral hip pain, and it follows the same rule as other tendon problems: mechanical load drives the biology inside a tendon, and left unused, the force it can bear only shrinks. What differs is that moving the thigh toward the midline presses these two tendons against bone, so the exercise has to load them in tension while avoiding that compression; in one randomized trial, education plus exercise brought more overall improvement than a steroid injection at one year, with similar pain.

Read full story

Stop 1/5

Where it hurts, and what hurts

EVIDENCEREVIEW 1

READ THE ORIGINAL

Feel the outside of the top of your thigh and you will find a bony bump, the greater trochanter. Two buttock muscles, the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, attach their tendons to it; they steady the pelvis when you walk or stand on one leg.

Trouble in these two tendons (gluteal tendinopathy) is now recognized as a primary local source of lateral hip pain. It mostly occurs in mid-life, in both active and inactive people, and more in women than men. It interferes with side-lying sleep and with everyday weight-bearing movements such as walking and climbing stairs. Many people call this pain bursitis; this story is about another source now considered more important: the tendon itself.

Hip pain after a fall with a leg that cannot take your weight, or pain with a fever and a red, swollen, hot joint, is not what this story is about. See a doctor in person promptly.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.