Pain around the hip may result from a variety of conditions, including referral from the lower back.
Arthritis of the hip joint is one of the most common causes of pain as we get older, but in many cases the symptoms will settle after a few weeks with simple exercises and modified activities. If you are experiencing any low back pain or shooting/tingling sensations in your leg alongside the hip pain, it may be worth looking at the lower back pain section of this website too.
Check out our recommended hip exercises and information sheets, as well as our video links to help you manage your hip pain.
See the links below for additional information.
Osteoarthritis is one of the most common conditions causing pain and stiffness in our hips over the age of 50. These exercises can be useful to perform if the joint is painful (a “flare” of the arthritis), but are also recommended regularly to keep the joints supple and muscles strong to help arthritic hip joints withstand normal activities and help to prevent pain flares.
For further information and resources about managing arthritis check out this excellent website produced by the charity Versus Arthritis.
NHS England have produced a number of decision support tools, to aid in making decisions about health conditions. These provide evidence based information about the levels of treatment and the benefits and harms. This includes a tool for hip OA this can be found on the right hand side of this page.
There is also a video produced by Keele University which explains the purpose and content of the musculoskeletal decision support tools which can be found here.
Pain around the outer
aspect of the hip can occur for a number of reasons. Most often it is because
of an irritation to the soft tissues in this area, but it can also be referred
from the lower back.
(see exercise and advice sheet on this page for lateral hip pain for more information). These exercises have been selected as they may help with any of these causes.
