Overview
Type of Hip Pain
Watch these three short videos of an internationally-respected physiotherapist explaining hip osteoarthritis, also known as OA, and why it hurts.
Watch these three short videos addressing some of the questions you might have about physical activity, weight loss and other strategies to help your knee pain due to osteoarthritis (OA).
For a summary of this information, the Provide Physiotherapy Outpatients Service have created a short educational video on hip osteoarthritis including links to additional support services that you can refer yourself to.
To create your own exercise programme at a level you can tolerate based on what you like and what you need, Click Here. Alternatively, go straight to the exercise inventory for beginner and more advanced knee and hip exercises and get started today!
If you want to learn more about your hip osteoarthritis, watch these short educational videos to get some simple advice and information to help you better manage your hip pain.
Although if you are looking for a more structured education and exercise programme to improve the management of your hip osteoarthritis, Click Here to access a free NHS online programme called ESCAPE-pain, which consists of 12 sessions over a 6 week period you can complete from home.
For help with weight loss, visit Essex Wellbeing Service or Click Here for more information on how losing weight can help to reduce pain and disability related to osteoarthritis.
Click Here for exercises that our physiotherapists would recommend for helping with the movement of your hip. Or Click Here for exercises that may assist with strengthening of the hip. Often a combination of both movement and strength can assist with the management of hip osteoarthritis.
Click Here for further information on Osteoarthritis and ways to manage it effectively.
Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome (also known as lateral hip pain or gluteal tendinopathy) affects the outside of the hip and the thigh and can radiate down the outside of the thigh.
Commonly pain is worse with prolonged walking, cross-legged sitting or lying down on the effected hip at night.
The tendons attaching muscles to the bony prominence on the outside of your hip and the bursa (fluid filled sacs) become irritated when the muscles are weak.
Strengthening the muscles around the hip has been shown to be significantly more effective for long term relief compared to steroid injections. Shockwave therapy is a possible treatment alongside physiotherapy for some patients. This leaflet provides information, answers and self-help strategies regarding the condition. You can also click Here for early stage exercises to help with managing symptoms of Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome.
Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome
FAI is common in sports such as football, hockey and squatting. These sports involve twisting.
It can be due to the ball and socket not moving completely freely throughout its range of movement. This can be due to abnormalities of the femur (ball) and if isn’t completely spherical or the acetabulum (socket) because the socket is too deep, or both.
It is most often very well managed with physiotherapy. Less commonly in more severe cases, hip arthroscopy is an effective key-hole surgery to relieve symptoms, combined with post-operative rehabilitation.
Dysplasia is an abnormal formation of the ball and socket joint of the hip. It can affect both children and adults.
When detected early, dysplasia can be easily managed with physiotherapy and without the need for surgery.
A common sign is one leg dragging behind the other when crawling or limping when walking.
For more severe cases, a number of surgical options are available depending on the type of dysplasia.
Is my hip pain likely to persist?
Take our one minute test
This quick questionnaire can help you identify how likely your pain is to persist over the next 6 months and whether you may need some extra support. It has been developed by a team of experts from Keele University – Click here for more information about the tool.
The tool has been shown to be very useful for people with common Musculoskeletal pain to profile individual risk of having a poor recovery and to use as a guide in conjunction with support from a healthcare professional if necessary.
Try out the questionnaire for yourself to see how you score and to get further help and advice. It will also be useful to retake the questionnaire after you have learned more key facts about your pain, either from this website or from a healthcare professional, to re-assess in time whether your hip pain problem is improving.
| For question 1 – 9, think about just the last two weeks: |
|---|
| Pain intensity 1. On average, how intense was your pain? [where 0 is “no pain”, 10 is “pain as bad as it could be”] |
| Select one of the options for each question below | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| 2. Do you often feel unsure about how to manage your pain condition? | ||
| 3. Over the last 2 weeks, have you been bothered a lot by your pain? | ||
| 4. Have you only been able to walk short distances because of your pain? | ||
| 5. Have you had troublesome joint or muscle pain in more than one part of your body? | ||
| 6. Do you think your condition will last a long time? | ||
| 7. Do you have other important health problems? | ||
| 8. Has pain made you feel down or depressed in the last two weeks? | ||
| 9. Do you feel it is unsafe for a person with a condition like yours to be physically active? | ||
| 10. Have you had your current pain problem for 6 months or more? |
High Risk
This test suggests you have some serious concerns about how well your hip pain will recover.
This may be related to feeling low and anxious generally or by being afraid that you might have done something serious to your hip.
It might help to discuss your concerns with a doctor or physiotherapist if things are still not improving over the next few weeks after following the advice and exercise in the Self Help section.
Also, visit the section on Persistent Pain for more information and support.
Most hip problems are not related to a serious condition. Allowing yourself to move normally, without too much worry, will help your hip to return to normal. Painkillers often help you to move normally, while your hip recovers.
If you are feeling low or anxious, whether this I related to your hip pain or not, and you would like further help and support, visit NHS website – Health in Mind.
Alternatively, Click Here for an interactive online self-help programme to help manage symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Medium Risk
This test suggests you may have some doubts about how well your hip will recover.
This may be related to feeling low and anxious generally or by being afraid that you might have done something serious to your hip.
It might help to discuss your concerns with a doctor or physiotherapist if things are still not improving over the next few weeks after following the advice and exercise in the Self Help
Most hip problems are not related to a serious condition. Allowing yourself to move normally, without too much worry, will help your hip to return to normal. Painkillers can help you to move normally, while your hip recovers.
You might also want to access the Essex Lifestyle Service for further support and help on making healthy lifestyle choices and live healthier lives as this could be contributing to your hip pain.
Low Risk
Congratulations! You most likely have the right ideas about your hip pain, and feel in control of how you manage your recovery.
We all know an episode of hip pain is very annoying, and at times extremely painful. Carrying on as normal and continuing to move your hip allows the quickest recovery, and stops your hip stiffening up and losing strength.
Keep going as you are, although read this short leaflet for more information and advice to get better even quicker.
You might also want to access the Essex Lifestyle Service for further support and help on making healthy lifestyle choices and live healthier lives as this could be contributing to your hip pain.
Self help
Evidence has shown that people who understand their Musculoskeletal health problem and take an active involvement to help themselves have a much better outcome.
Here are some really helpful leaflets and useful links to other websites that have been approved by our physiotherapists so that you can start getting better with your hip pain today!
This information is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment if required. All content is for general information purposes only.
Click Here to access our getUBetter app, which is an easy, safe and effective way to support your recovery.
Leaflets
Videos
Watch this useful short video for advice on how to manage back pain
Source: Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
Hip Osteoarthritis – Part 1 of Why does it hurt – is it “Bone on Bone”? A deep dive into the common misconception that you have pain because you have ‘bone on bone’ changes on X-ray.
Source: OA optimism
Hip osteoarthritis – Part 2 of Why does it hurt – is it wear and tear?
Source: OA optimism
Hip Osteoarthritis – Part 2 of Why does it hurt – is it wear and tear?
Source: OA optimism
Hip Osteoarthritis Part 3 of Why does it hurt – pain is more about sensitivity than damage.
Source: OA optimism
Hip Osteoarthritis – Part 4. Overview on some of the things that you can do to help yourself.
Source: OA optimism
Hip Osteoarthritis – Part 5. Looking into the idea of whether weight is essential to help yourself and how exercise and activity can still help even if you don’t lose weight
Source: OA optimism
Hip Osteoarthritis – Part 6. Talking about the benefits of exercise and activity even when painful and how you can do it safely.
Source: OA optimism
A short 90 second video on how pain is influenced by a number of factors using the cup analogy for pain
Source: Greg Lehman – Movement Optimism
Provide Back to Activity Programme – Circuit exercises
Provide Back to Activity Programme – Pilates exercises
Exercises
Useful Links
- Free-to-use NHS online programme and app to enable self-management and coping with arthritic hip pain using exercise
- Excellent resource of educational videos and exercises to carry out for hip osteoarthritis to help yourself in the long term based on the latest evidence
- Useful information booklet on hip osteoarthritis to help you understand the condition better and how to manage it.
- Useful exercises to carry out at home to manage osteoarthritis of the hip. These exercises are designed to help strengthen and stretch the hips to ease the symptoms.
- Further information on hip pain in adults – Causes, managing hip pain at home and when to get medical advice.
- Nuffield Health Joint Pain Wellbeing Programme offers a free to join programme designed to help you self-manage chronic joint pain.
Further Support
If your hip pain is still not improving despite following the advice and guidance provided on the website and you score a ‘Medium’ or ‘High Risk’ when completing the ‘Is my hip pain likely to persist?’, you may require further help and support from the Physiotherapy Service. Please click on the ‘Physiotherapy Self-Referral’ box to refer yourself to the service for further management of your back problem.
With all hip pain it is best to try to keep the hip moving as able and to continue your normal activities but in smaller amounts until you can resume them normally again. If you are finding it difficult to walk then using crutches or a walking aid may help.
Remember that most causes of hip pain are not due to anything serious, although there are rare cases where you would need to seek urgent medical help. Contact NHS 111 for immediate medical advice if you have any of the symptoms below:
- your hip pain was caused by a serious fall or accident
- your leg is deformed, badly bruised or bleeding
- you’re unable to move your hip or bear any weight on your leg
- you have hip pain with a temperature and feel unwell
Seek an urgent GP appointment or attend A&E if your child has the following hip related symptoms:
- Sudden pain in their hip, thigh or knee (hip problems can sometimes be felt in the thigh or knee)
- Limping or can’t put any weight on one leg
Click here for further support and guidance.