Hip Pain

Hip pain lies about its address more than any other complaint. True hip-joint pain usually lives in the groin; pain on the outside is often bursa or tendon; pain in the buttock is frequently the back or SI joint visiting. Getting the address right is the exam's first job.

What’s actually going on

The hip region hosts a ball-and-socket joint, the sacroiliac joints, powerful tendon attachments, bursae, and the lumbar spine's referral patterns — all within a hand-span. Each has its own signature on examination, and each responds to different care.

Common causes we see

• Hip joint arthritis — groin pain, stiffness, shrinking stride
• Greater trochanteric pain (bursa/tendon) — the outside-of-the-hip, can't-lie-on-that-side pattern
• Sacroiliac joint dysfunction — one-sided low pain near the dimples
• Lumbar referral — the back projecting pain downward
• Overuse in walkers, hikers and runners — Reno's trail tax

How we evaluate it

Hip range of motion and orthopedic tests, SI joint provocation testing, lumbar screening, gait assessment, and palpation of the usual suspects. The pattern of what provokes what tells us the true address — and whether X-rays of the joint are warranted.

How chiropractic care may help

For mechanical patterns: joint mobilization and adjustment (hip, SI and lumbar as indicated), soft-tissue work for tendon and bursa irritation, modalities, and targeted strengthening — especially the gluteal support the hip leans on. Arthritic hips deserve honesty: care may meaningfully improve comfort and function, it does not regrow cartilage, and when a joint reaches replacement territory we say so and support you through that path.

What to expect

Bring the shoes you actually walk in. Gait and footwear tell on hips constantly.

Pattern reference: standard orthopedic differentiation of intra-articular vs peri-articular vs referred hip pain.