Hip Pain & Injuries

Hip pain can originate from the muscles, tendons, joint, surrounding soft tissues, or structures in the lower back and pelvis. Identifying the factors contributing to your symptoms helps guide an appropriate treatment plan.

Hip Flexor Strains and Tendinopathy

The hip flexors help lift the thigh and control hip movement during running, sprinting, kicking, and other athletic activities. Repetitive training, sudden acceleration, or forceful kicking can overload these muscles and tendons, causing pain in the front of the hip or groin. Symptoms may increase with sprinting, high-knee movements, kicking, or resisted hip flexion.

Hip Labral Injuries

The hip labrum is a ring of cartilage that surrounds the hip socket and contributes to joint stability. Labral injuries may occur following trauma, repetitive loading, or in association with underlying hip joint shape variations. Symptoms can include deep groin pain, clicking, catching, stiffness, or discomfort with pivoting, squatting, and prolonged sitting. Not every click or painful hip requires surgery; evaluation helps determine the appropriate next steps.

Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI)

Femoroacetabular impingement occurs when the shape of the ball or socket of the hip contributes to contact during certain hip movements. Some individuals have no symptoms, while others experience groin pain, stiffness, or restricted hip motion, particularly during deep squatting, pivoting, or bringing the knee toward the chest. Physical therapy can address mobility where appropriate, strength, movement control, and activity modifications based on the individual's symptoms and examination findings.

Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome (Lateral Hip Pain)

Pain on the outside of the hip may involve the gluteal tendons and surrounding tissues, sometimes referred to as greater trochanteric pain syndrome. Symptoms may worsen with running, climbing stairs, standing on one leg, or lying on the affected side. Treatment often emphasizes progressive hip strengthening, load management, and improved tolerance to everyday and athletic activities.

Hip Muscle Strains and Tendon Injuries

The muscles surrounding the hip—including the gluteals, adductors, and hamstrings—help control the pelvis and produce force during athletic movement. Sprinting, jumping, rapid changes of direction, and kicking can strain these muscles or overload their tendons. Rehabilitation focuses on restoring strength, coordination, and the ability to tolerate progressively greater loads.

Hip Osteoarthritis and Joint Stiffness

Hip osteoarthritis involves changes in the joint that may contribute to pain, stiffness, and reduced mobility. Symptoms may be noticeable with walking, prolonged standing, getting up from a chair, or putting on shoes and socks. Physical therapy can help improve strength, maintain functional mobility, and support activity participation through an individualized exercise and management plan.

Referred Pain From the Lower Back or Pelvis

Not all hip pain originates in the hip joint. The lower back, pelvis, and surrounding nerves can contribute to pain felt in the buttock, groin, or thigh. A comprehensive evaluation helps distinguish potential sources of symptoms and determine whether additional medical assessment is appropriate.

When Should You Seek Medical Evaluation for Hip Pain?

Although many cases of hip pain improve with appropriate activity modification and physical therapy, some symptoms require further medical evaluation. Knowing when to seek care can help prevent a minor injury from becoming a more significant problem.

Seek prompt medical evaluation if you experience:

• Severe or sudden hip pain: Especially following a fall, collision, or other traumatic injury.

• Inability to bear weight: Difficulty standing or walking on the affected leg after an injury may indicate a fracture or other significant injury.

• Persistent groin pain in young athletes: Groin or hip pain that worsens with running, jumping, or weight-bearing may indicate a bone stress injury. These injuries require timely evaluation and should not be pushed through.

• Progressively worsening pain: Pain that increases despite rest or activity modification, interferes with sleep, or limits everyday activities deserves further assessment.

• Significant swelling, redness, warmth, or fever: These symptoms, particularly when accompanied by severe hip pain, may indicate an infection or another condition requiring urgent medical attention.

• Hip pain with locking, catching, or giving way: Recurrent mechanical symptoms or a feeling that the hip is unstable may warrant further diagnostic evaluation.

When is emergency care necessary?

Seek emergency care for severe hip pain following a significant injury, inability to stand or bear weight, or a hot, swollen joint accompanied by fever or feeling seriously ill. Sudden severe pain in a child or adolescent also warrants urgent medical assessment.

How Hip Pain Affects Athletic Performance

The hips play a central role in the kinetic chain, connecting the lower extremities with the pelvis and trunk. They contribute to force production, balance, rotation, acceleration, deceleration, and control during athletic movement.

When hip mobility, strength, or movement control is limited, an athlete may change the way they run, jump, land, cut, or rotate. These compensations can alter loading throughout the lower extremities and trunk.

Hip function is particularly important for athletes who sprint, jump, change direction, kick, or generate rotational force. Effective rehabilitation considers the demands of the athlete's sport and position rather than focusing only on pain during everyday activities.

How Physical Therapy Can Help Hip Pain

At Athletic Edge & Wellness, treatment is individualized to your symptoms, examination findings, activity level, and goals. We evaluate the hip while also considering the surrounding structures and movement patterns that may contribute to your condition.

Your physical therapy program may include:

• Mobility and range of motion: Addressing appropriate restrictions in hip and surrounding joint mobility.

• Strengthening: Rebuilding hip, gluteal, and lower-extremity strength to improve force production and control.

• Pelvic and trunk stability: Improving control of the pelvis and trunk during single-leg and dynamic activities.

• Movement retraining: Evaluating and improving movement strategies during squatting, running, landing, cutting, and rotation.

• Manual therapy: Using appropriate hands-on techniques to address symptoms and mobility limitations when indicated.

• Progressive loading: Gradually rebuilding the strength, endurance, and load tolerance needed for daily activity and sport.

• Sport-specific rehabilitation: Progressing toward the running, jumping, sprinting, pivoting, and rotational demands of your sport.

• Sports-Performance therapy: Combines mobility training, strength development, speed and agility, power development, and sport-specific training to help athletes build physical capacity and perform at their best

The goal is to address the factors contributing to your symptoms while progressively restoring function and preparing you for the demands of your activities.

Returning to Sports After a Hip Injury

Being able to walk without pain does not necessarily mean an athlete is ready to sprint, jump, cut, or compete. Return to sport requires adequate strength, mobility, coordination, and tolerance for the speed and intensity of athletic movement.

Rehabilitation should progress according to the injury, tissue healing, symptoms, examination findings, and sport-specific demands. Depending on the condition, this may involve a gradual progression from controlled strengthening to running, acceleration, deceleration, jumping, landing, change-of-direction drills, and sport-specific skills.

At Athletic Edge & Wellness, we help athletes build toward their individual goals rather than relying on pain reduction alone to determine readiness.