Hip pain starts with where it hurts, and when.

"Hip pain" covers a lot of ground, from the groin to the outside of the hip to the buttock. The joint, the soft tissues around it and pain referred from elsewhere can all feel like your hip, and our chiropractic exam looks for which one it is.

Where does your hip hurt, and when?

When it hurts matters as much as where: walking, stairs, sitting or lying on that side, a recent fall or a change in training, pain that travels farther down the leg. The NHS lists possible causes of hip pain, including injury, arthritis and tendon problems.

Bring any earlier reports, but we'd rather start with you: what changed, and what can't you do comfortably anymore? If the pain also runs down your leg, our sciatica guide covers the questions that come with that, which differ from those for pain that stays on the outside of the hip.

When does hip pain need urgent care?

The NHS warning signs for hip pain come in two groups. Severe pain after a fall, not being able to walk or put weight on the leg, or new tingling or loss of feeling after an injury needs emergency care. Sudden severe pain with no injury, a hot or swollen hip, or a fever with feeling unwell needs urgent medical advice. Please don't wait for a routine chiropractic appointment.

Outer hip pain and the gluteal tendinopathy research

In the LEAP randomized trial, adults with confirmed gluteal tendinopathy who got education about managing load plus exercise did better in the short term than those who had an injection or waited. At one year their overall improvement was still better than the injection group's, but pain no longer differed significantly.

That's a reason to talk about an active plan for confirmed gluteal tendinopathy. Not every sore hip is tendinopathy, though, and the trial didn't test spinal adjustments for hip arthritis.

Could it be the sacroiliac joint?

The SI joints connect the sacrum and the pelvis. A small diagnostic study of pain-provocation tests checked combinations of exam findings against an injection-based reference to identify a possible pain source. It didn't look at pelvic alignment, or at whether adjustments change it.

If the exam points to the SI joint, we'll go over the findings behind that. The hip and lower back can cause pain there too, so feeling uneven on its own doesn't tell us the SI joint is the source.

Tracking hip pain with one everyday activity

A flight of stairs or your usual walk makes a simple yardstick: how far you get and how it feels on the way. It's something concrete to check a plan against, though how much change is realistic depends on the cause. We'll go over what we found before we recommend anything. If the findings call for imaging or a specialist's opinion, we'll tell you, because getting one is part of good care.

Our hip and pelvis guides cover the neighboring conditions.

If we are not able to help you with your problem or are unable to reduce your pain levels, we will make sure to give you a recommendation to another experienced provider. If you know exactly where your hip hurts but not why, that's what a first visit at our Clarksville office is for.