What is Hip Bursitis and How Can You Manage It?
What Is Hip Bursitis and How Can You Manage It?
Hip pain can make walking, climbing stairs, sleeping, and completing everyday activities uncomfortable. Hip bursitis is one possible cause, especially when pain and tenderness develop around the outside of the hip.
Hip Bursitis Overview
A bursa is a small, fluid-filled sac that helps reduce friction between bones and nearby soft tissues. When a bursa near the hip becomes irritated or inflamed, the surrounding area may become painful and tender.
Symptoms may appear after an increase in activity, repetitive pressure, a direct impact, or a fall. Hip pain can also come from tendons, muscles, joints, or the lower back, so the location of pain alone cannot confirm the cause.
What Is Hip Bursitis?
Several bursae are located around the hip. The bursa commonly associated with pain on the outside of the hip sits near the greater trochanter, the bony prominence at the upper part of the thigh bone.
Irritation in this area is often called trochanteric bursitis. However, symptoms around the outside of the hip may also involve nearby gluteal tendons and other soft tissues.
Why Hip Pain Matters
Hip pain can affect much more than exercise. It may interfere with standing, walking, sitting, using stairs, getting into a vehicle, or lying on the affected side.
People may begin avoiding certain movements because they expect them to hurt. Over time, this can affect activity levels, strength, confidence, and normal routines.
What May Trigger Symptoms?
Symptoms do not always begin after a major injury. They may develop when the tissues around the hip are exposed to more stress or pressure than they are currently prepared to handle.
Walking farther, climbing more stairs, hiking, running, or beginning a new exercise routine may increase stress around the hip.
Repeated movements involving the hip can irritate sensitive tissues, particularly when recovery time is limited.
Lying on the painful side or placing prolonged pressure over the outside of the hip may aggravate symptoms.
A direct impact to the outside of the hip can irritate the bursa and nearby tissues, even when no bone is broken.
Common Hip Bursitis Symptoms
Sharp, aching, or burning pain near the outside of the hip
Tenderness when pressing the outer hip
Pain while lying on the affected side
Discomfort during walking, stairs, or prolonged standing
Pain that worsens after increased activity
Discomfort that travels along the outside of the thigh
How Can It Be Managed?
Management depends on the cause, severity, duration, and activities that aggravate the symptoms. Complete inactivity is not always necessary, but temporarily reducing painful movements may allow irritated tissues to settle.
A healthcare professional or physical therapist can help identify contributing factors and develop a plan based on the person’s symptoms, movement, strength, and daily demands.
Practical Management Strategies
Temporarily reduce movements or positions that sharply increase symptoms. This may include long walks, repeated stairs, or sleeping on the painful side.
Avoid prolonged direct pressure over the outside of the hip. A pillow between the knees may make side sleeping more comfortable for some people.
Continue comfortable daily movement when possible rather than returning immediately to the activity level that triggered the pain.
A guided program may include exercises for hip strength, mobility, balance, and control based on the individual’s examination.
Walking distance, exercise volume, and other physical demands should increase in manageable steps rather than all at once.
How Physical Therapy May Help
Physical therapy may help determine which movements and activities are aggravating the hip. An evaluation may also examine hip strength, mobility, walking mechanics, balance, and the person’s ability to complete daily tasks.
Treatment may include activity guidance, progressive exercise, movement education, and strategies for returning to normal activities. The plan should reflect the individual rather than relying on the same exercises for every person with hip pain.
Common Hip Pain Mistakes
Repeatedly forcing painful movements may continue irritating the area instead of building useful strength or tolerance.
Extended inactivity can contribute to stiffness and reduced strength. Activity usually needs to be modified rather than abandoned completely.
Feeling better for one day does not always mean the hip is prepared for an immediate return to longer walks or demanding exercise.
Arthritis, tendon problems, injuries, and referred pain can produce similar symptoms. Persistent pain deserves an appropriate assessment.
Arrange an evaluation when pain is severe, continues to worsen, interferes with sleep or normal activity, or does not improve with reasonable activity changes. Seek prompt care after a significant fall, when you cannot bear weight, or when the hip appears deformed.
Urgent medical attention may also be appropriate when pain occurs with fever, significant redness, warmth, rapidly increasing swelling, or other signs of possible infection.
Watch the Full Hip Bursitis Discussion
The longer video provides additional information about hip bursitis and how symptoms may be addressed.
Watch the Full Educational VideoThis information is educational and does not diagnose the cause of hip pain. Symptoms and treatment needs vary, and an individual assessment may be needed to distinguish bursitis from other hip, tendon, joint, or back conditions.
Early Activity Changes Can Help Calm Hip Pain
Hip bursitis may develop after increased activity, repeated pressure, or a direct impact. Recognizing painful patterns, reducing unnecessary irritation, and rebuilding activity gradually may help people return to normal movement more comfortably.