Hip pain!

There is also a bursa right there too-google it.

I've had some hip/lower hip flexor pain for a while. Always worse in the morning and stretching [seems] irritates it. Mine is more of a pulling feeling or a pinching feeling. I have consulted my Dr. and was told it's just a by product of my previous injury I'm recovering from (hamstring tendonosis). I do believe that, but what I believe specifically what it is is bursitis in the bursa in the front of my hip and on the side.

Since the pain comes and goes, I think it is tightness; either muscles or ligaments. Use a foam roller several times a day and see if you can't relieve the tightness.

Also, Google "pigeon stretch" and do this several times a day.

If stretching and foam rolling doesn't seem to help, I'd get it checked out by a dr. The popping sounds a bit like impingement and a labral tear, although I am no doctor...it's better to be safe than to keep going and cause more harm.

I had a hip injury that began back in December.  My pain sounds quite different than yours, but I did a lot of reading up on hip injuries during that time.  The hip seems to be pretty complicated, so if you do see a doctor, try to find one who specializes in the hip.

So I've had a pretty bad labral tear and CAM impingement, which I've had repaired.  Hip popping doesn't necessarily mean labral tear or even anything that bad.  Having a tight IT band, or iliospoas, can cause this popping, because it normally slides over the top side of your hip and if its tight it will make a popping sound as it does so.   So don't worry too much yet!  

My advice would be to go to the doctor and ask for the MRI with contrast.  Based on where it hurts it sounds more like a tendonitis issue, but if the doctor isn't 100% convinced then really push for an MRI with contrast.  Many doctors still don't immediately think to check for labral tears and there's nothing worse than wasting time trying to diagnose (especially since a tear won't heal on its own).  

And finally, even if it does turn out to be a labral tear, having it repaired is not as bad as you may read on the internet.  The recovery takes a little while, but you can definitely come back from it.  Good luck!

^^^^^^^^^What she said.

I had almost 2 years of pain in my hip that started out as a dull ache and got progressively worse.  Three rounds of PT, 4 cortisone shots and two doctors later I ended up getting my hip scoped.  I'm 2 weeks post surgery and though I have a long way to go I feel better already.

Good luck!

For the last week or so it's been mostly about the dull pain and much less about popping.  I haven't gotten it checked out yet but will do so if it continues to be a problem.  So far, it's not hurting much while I'm actually running, and the pain level isn't increasing (although it isn't exactly improving either).  It still hurts sometimes, still in the front, but sometimes in other muscles in the area.  Other times I don't feel a thing.

Anyway, I've been in post-IM rest/recovery mode, but I might be going for a pretty long trail run tomorrow, so I guess I'll see how it feels after that!  

Thanks everyone for your input and advice.

I had very similiar issues with my right hip when I started to run after having foot surgery.  I got different shoes- went from a neutral shoe with custom orthotics to a regular stability shoe and that seemed to help.  My issue didn't go away but luckily it didn't get worse.  I had to lay off from running for nearly a month since it had gotten pretty painful.  I did that, on top of icing and stretching and it eventually got better and the popping sensation went away.  It took me some time though- a few weeks and it definitely have a slower healing time than other injuries I've had.  I am not sure exactly what the problem was- I was going to PT as well and I know my hip flexor was injured and my psoas was pretty angry.

A good trick I learned was to use a mobility ball- you can get them at www.fitball.com    If you don't have one and don't want to order one, I've found a tennis ball works just as good.  In fact, I like to use a extra large Kong tennis ball that's a dog toy and it's perfect because it's larger than a tennis ball.  I just lay on the floor and place it under my hip flexor/psoas area.  It's kinda painful but if you make very slight movements and kinda roll on top of it you can really feel it loosen up the hip muscles.  On top of foam rolling I think that really helped.  You might give that a try and see how it works for ya.

Good luck- being injured is very frustrating.  Just gotta be patient and give your body time to heal up!