Member Case Study: Hip Pain

The common conditions seen would be: a femoral neck stress fracture, a hip flexor tendonitis, or a hip joint cartilage problem such as a labral tear or arthritis of the hip joint.

Question from tdemayo
Hi. I have been experiencing hip pain after I run. The pain spans from the side of my hip and across the front of my hip to my pelvic area. I’ve given myself 2 days between run workouts, but the pain is still present. I’ve tried stretching, but not consistently, and it seems to relieve the pain a bit. However, the pain gets so bad that I can’t sleep on my side at night. The pain is mostly in my left hip area. Thanks! Toni
 

Answer by Deanne Eccles-Rotar MD

Member AMSSM

Hip pain is complex to diagnose due to referral patterns from the back. However, generally anterior hip pain that is in the groin region is usually related to either the hip joint or the femoral neck area and the overlying hip flexor muscles. The common conditions seen would be: a femoral neck stress fracture, a hip flexor tendonitis, or a hip joint cartilage problem such as a labral tear or arthritis of the hip joint.

 

Lateral hip pain is generally less worrisome and is usually related to the large muscle groups that attach to the outer aspect of the femur bone. These muscles consist of the large gluteal muscles and smaller muscles that serve as hip rotators and abductors. Pain here is usually related to muscle imbalances through the pelvis.

In any event the biggest concern is to rule out a stress fracture if you are still having pain and not running.
Good luck!

Deanne Eccles-Rotar MD
Dean Health Systems in Madison Wisconsin