Hip Pain in Edmonton: Telling Joint Pain From Tendon Pain
Hip pain in Edmonton: how groin, outer hip and buttock pain point to different causes, and what physiotherapy does for each.
Where you feel hip pain is the most useful clue you can give a clinician. Groin pain usually means the joint. Pain on the outside usually means tendon. Buttock pain frequently means the lower back. Those three have very little treatment overlap.
Groin pain: the joint
Deep groin pain, often indicated by cupping the hip with a C-shaped hand, points to the hip joint itself. In younger active adults this is often impingement, where the bony shapes limit deep flexion and rotation. In older adults, osteoarthritis becomes more likely.
Both respond to strengthening and to modifying the ranges that provoke symptoms. Neither improves by repeatedly forcing end range.
Outer hip pain: the tendons
Pain over the bony point on the side of the hip, tender to lie on at night, sore on stairs or standing on one leg, is usually gluteal tendinopathy. It is often called bursitis, but the tendon is generally the primary structure involved.
Compression is what keeps it going: crossing the legs, standing with the hip dropped to one side, side-lying without a pillow between the knees. Progressive loading plus removing those positions is what changes it. Stretching that side typically makes it worse.
Buttock pain: often the back
Buttock-dominant pain that changes with sitting, bending or lifting often originates in the lumbar spine. Any symptoms below the knee, or pins and needles, make spinal assessment the priority.
Front of hip
Hip flexor pain is common in people who sit for long stretches then train hard. It usually reflects demand outpacing current capacity and responds to strengthening through range rather than stretching alone.
What an assessment involves
Symptom mapping, hip range of motion, gluteal and adductor strength testing, joint-specific tests, lumbar screening, and single-leg control, which is where most people’s symptoms actually show up.
Frequently asked questions
Should I stretch it?
For gluteal tendinopathy, generally not. Stretching compresses the tendon against bone.
Do I need a scan?
Not usually first. Hip imaging shows changes in many people with no symptoms.
How long does it take?
Tendon problems change over weeks, measured by what you tolerate week to week.
Beverly Physiotherapy, 4229 118 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5W 1A6. Call (825) 435-4600 or book at beverlyphysio.ca.