Lateral hip pain
Pain on the outside of the hip, tender to touch, worse lying on that side, climbing stairs, standing on one leg or crossing your legs. It is most often the tendons of the buttock muscles, and is common in women around the menopause. Loading those tendons, and avoiding positions that squash them, is what helps.
Also called gluteal tendinopathy, trochanteric bursitis, greater trochanteric pain syndrome, pain on the side of the hip.
Does this sound like you?
- Pain on the bony point on the outside of the hip
- Lying on that side at night is painful
- Stairs, hills and standing on one leg bring it on
- Crossing your legs or sitting in low chairs makes it worse
This is not a diagnosis. Several things cause pain in the same place, which is why the list below matters.
Check these first: when it is not lateral hip pain
If any of these apply, get checked before you start the exercises.
- It followed a fall and you can't put weight on the leg
- The pain is in the groin rather than the side of the hip
- Numbness, pins and needles or weakness down the leg
- Fever, or constant pain at night that doesn't ease
The exercises, in the order you would build them up
How long it takes
Most people improve over three months of regular loading. Avoid crossing your legs and hanging on one hip while standing, and sleep with a pillow between your knees. Stretching the side of the hip usually makes it worse.
What the NHS says
The NHS's own pages on this, to check what you have read here against.
Waiting for an appointment?
Kinehub turns this into a daily plan, adjusts it as you improve or struggle, and keeps the record you hand over when you are finally seen.
Keep reading
- Guide · 3 minSleeping when it hurtsPositions that take the load off a sore back, neck, shoulder or hip, and the night-time pain that needs checking.
- Guide · 4 minThe clamshell, done properlyThe most commonly prescribed glute exercise, and the three mistakes that stop it working.
- Guide · 6 minUnderstanding painWhy hurt does not always mean harm, and why that matters when you are deciding whether to move today.
A daily plan for lateral hip pain
Kinehub turns these exercises into a short daily session with a demo for each one, and tracks your pain before and after so you can see whether it is working. Free to start.
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