Lateral hip pain is a common condition affecting 1 in 4 people in their life time. It occurs when the tissues that lie over the hip bone become irritated. There are many soft tissues around this area which may be responsible for producing your pain. These tissues include:

  • tendons (tough bundles of connective tissue that connect muscles to the bones)
  • muscles (Bundles of muscle fibres that contract to produce movement at a joint)
  • bursae (fluid-filled sacs that help smooth movement between muscles, tendons and the hip bone)
Diagram of gluteal tendon
Gluteal tendon

Causes

Research has found a number of factors that can cause lateral hip pain. These include:

  • being female
  • during or after the menopause
  • being unfit
  • weakness of the hip muscles
  • being overweight
  • smoking
  • poor sitting posture

Normally a number of reasons all cause the irritation however the most common ones include:

  • compression of the soft tissues - due to poor muscles and posture.
  • a fall or direct blow to the area

Overloading

Due to weakness in the muscles.

Overloading happens when your soft tissues (especially tendons) struggle to cope with the strain applied to them. This may start after a sudden increase in activity, especially if the activity was repetitive and/or a bit more than you would usually do (overuse).

For example:

  • walking or standing for longer or further than is normal for you
  • sitting for a long period of time in the same position
  • starting new sports that involve high levels of jumping and landing (i.e. dancing, tennis, athletics), and your body not being used to this amount of exercise. Older adults may develop symptoms more gradually simply due to the normal aging process within the tendons of the body