Hip pain is a common complaint that can significantly impact your mobility and quality of life. The hip is one of the largest and most stable joints in your body, designed to support your weight and enable a wide range of movements. When hip pain develops, it can affect everything from walking and climbing stairs to sleeping comfortably. Understanding the causes and available treatments can help you take the first step toward pain-free movement and lifestyle.
Hip Pain Physiotherapy
Whether it’s caused by arthritis, bursitis, muscle imbalances, or a past injury, our physiotherapists at Allied Physiotherapy are here to help. We create a targeted plan that includes joint mobilization, strengthening exercises, and gait retraining to improve movement and reduce pain. Our goal is to help you regain function and enjoy lasting relief.
Causes of Hip Pain
Hip pain can arise from various conditions affecting different structures in and around the hip joint:
- Osteoarthritis: Wear and tear of the hip joint cartilage, commonly developing with age, leg length discrepancies and prolonged participation in contact sports
- Hip Impingement: Abnormal contact between the ball of the long bone of the femur (thigh bone) and the socket of the hip joint
- Bursitis: Inflammation of the fluid-filled sacs that cushion the tendon attachment to the bone of the hip joint e.g. trochanteric bursitis
- Labral Tears: Damage to the cartilage ring that surrounds the hip socket
- Muscle Strains: Injuries to the muscles surrounding the hip, including the hip flexors, piriformis or glutes
- Tendonitis: Inflammation of tendons around the hip joint
- Hip Fractures: Broken bones in the hip area, often occurring after falls or contact injuries e.g. ICBC related trauma and sport injuries
- Referred Pain: Pain originating from the lower back or sacroiliac joint that refers into the hip area e.g. sciatica, spinal stenosis, disc bulge and facet joint impingement
- Avascular Necrosis: Loss of blood supply to the hip bone
- Inflammatory Conditions: Including rheumatoid arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis
- IT Band Syndrome: Tightness or inflammation of the iliotibial band
- Piriformis Syndrome: Compression of the sciatic nerve by the piriformis muscle
Symptoms of Hip Pain
Hip pain can present with various symptoms:
- Pain: May be felt in the hip joint, groin, buttock area, outer thigh and radiating into the knee joint
- Stiffness: Reduced range of motion, especially in the morning or after sitting
- Limping: Altered walking pattern to avoid pain
- Grinding or Clicking: Sounds or sensations with hip movement
- Weakness: Difficulty with activities requiring hip strength e.g. sitting to standing, squatting and lifting
- Pain with Weight Bearing: Discomfort when standing, walking, or climbing stairs
- Night Pain: Pain that disturbs sleep, especially when lying on the affected side
- Reduced Activity Tolerance: Difficulty with prolonged walking or standing
- Difficulty with Sitting: Pain when sitting for extended periods
- Trouble with Personal Care: Challenges with activities like putting on socks or shoes
- Hip Locking or Catching: Sensation of the hip getting stuck during movement
When Should I See a Physiotherapist?
Our top-rated Physiotherapists can help if you experience:
- Severe hip pain, especially following a fall or injury
- Inability to bear weight on the affected leg
- Hip pain that persists for more than a few days
- Pain that significantly limits your daily activities
- Hip pain accompanied by swelling and loss of mobility
- Sudden onset of severe hip pain
- Progressive worsening of symptoms that do not improve over time
- Pain that doesn’t improve with rest and over-the-counter medications
- Hip pain that disturbs your sleep regularly
- Difficulty walking or noticeable changes in your gait
- Hip pain combined with numbness or tingling into the leg
How Physiotherapy Helps Knee Pain
Our best rated and highly experienced Physiotherapists utilize evidence-based treatment and management to help you overcome hip pain:
- Comprehensive Assessment: Detailed evaluation of your lumbar spine, hip joint mobility, strength, posture, and functional movement patterns to identify the underlying cause of your pain. Ergonomic assessment and leg length alignment.
- Pain Management: Electrotherapy modalities (laser, ultrasound, shockwave therapy) to reduce pain and inflammation, decrease scar tissue and to increase healing
- Acupuncture and Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS): Decreases pain and promote healing
- Manual Therapy: Hands-on techniques including joint mobilization and soft tissue massage to improve hip mobility and reduce muscle tension.
- Therapeutic Exercise: Customized strengthening programs targeting the muscles that support and stabilize the hip joint, including the glutes, hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, adductors and core muscles.
- Flexibility Training: Stretching exercises to improve hip range of motion and address muscle tightness.
- Postural Education: Instruction on proper body mechanics and posture to reduce stress on the hip joint. This includes an ergonomic assessment of your computer station, work related activities and sleeping position
- Gait Training: Analysis and correction of walking patterns to improve walking, functional ability and reduce pain.
- Activity Modification: Guidance on adapting daily activities and exercise routines to protect the hip while maintaining function.
- Personalized Home Exercise Program: Customized exercises to complement your treatment and progress you forward between therapy sessions.
- Hydrotherapy: Improve mobility, flexibility and strength using the buoyancy of the water, both for support and progressive resistance exercise
Preventing Hip Pain & Self Help Measures!
Consider these strategies to maintain hip health and reduce your risk of hip pain:
- Maintain a Healthy Weight: Reduce excess stress on hip joints
- Stay Active: Regular low-impact exercise helps maintain joint mobility and muscle strength
- Strengthen Supporting Muscles: Focus on glute, core, hip and lower limb muscle strengthening
- Improve Flexibility: Regular stretching of hip flexors, glutes, IT band, hamstring and calves
- Use Proper Body Mechanics: Learn correct techniques for lifting, bending, and carrying
- Wear Supportive Footwear: Choose shoes with good arch support and cushioning
- Warm Up Before Activity: Prepare your muscles and joints before exercise or sports
- Listen to Your Body: Rest when you feel pain and don’t push through significant discomfort
- Maintain Good Posture: Proper alignment reduces stress on the hip joint especially during sleeping, sitting and working
- Cross-Train: Vary your activities to avoid repetitive stress on the hips
- Address Other Issues: Treat back problems or leg length discrepancies that may affect hip mechanics
Why Choose One of Our Top-Rated Allied Physio Clinics For Hip Pain?
At Allied Physiotherapy Health Group, our best rated multidisciplinary clinics offer comprehensive treatment for hip conditions with Physiotherapists who have extensive experience and training in treating complex hip problems. Allied Physiotherapists use the latest research and techniques to provide comprehensive care that addresses not just your symptoms but the underlying causes of your hip pain.
We understand that hip pain affects everyone differently, and we take the time to understand your specific goals and lifestyle needs. Whether you’re an athlete looking to return to sport, someone preparing for or recovering from hip surgery, or an individual who simply wants to walk without pain, we develop personalized treatment plans to help you achieve your objectives.
Our Allied Health approach combines hands-on treatment coupled with education and self-management strategies, empowering you to take an active role in your recovery and long-term hip health.
Book Your Allied Physiotherapy Appointment Today
Don’t let hip pain limit your mobility and enjoyment of life. Contact us today online or by phone to schedule your physio appointment and begin your journey toward pain-free movement.
