Around your joints—all throughout your body—there are small, jelly-like sacs. Their purpose? To reduce friction while you move! They’re called bursae, and can be found around your shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees.
Just like a lot of things in your body, if not taken care of, bursae can become irritated or inflamed. This is called bursitis—or hip bursitis when it occurs in your hips.
Symptoms of Hip Bursitis
The (sort of) good thing about hip bursitis is this: the most common symptom is a pretty obvious one—hip pain. It can range from a dull ache all the way up to a sharp and shooting pain. Both the location and the intensity of your hip pain can vary depending on which bursa is affected. For example, if the pain is coming from the greater trochanter area (in your outer hip), you may have trochanteric bursitis. If the pain originates from your groin area; however, you may have iliopsoas bursitis.
Let’s look at the two a little more closely.
Symptoms of Trochanteric Bursitis
- Pain on the outer part of your hip, thigh, and buttock;
- Pain when getting up, sitting down, or lying down on the affected hip;
- Pain when pressing on the affected side;
- Pain that worsens with physical activity;
- And pain when going up the stairs.
Symptoms of Iliopsoas Bursitis
- Pain over the front of your hip, or in your groin area;
- Swelling and inflammation in the same area;
- Stiffness and decreased range of motion in your hip;
- Weakness in your hip area;
- And pain that worsens with physical activity.
So, What Actually Causes Hip Bursitis?
There are a lot of different potential causes of hip bursitis, including hip bone spurs, a hip injury from a fall or from running into a hard object, an overuse injury, a reaction to prosthetic implants, or an infection of the bursa.
There are also more subtle potential causes like prolonged lying down on one side, bad posture (sometimes due to a spine condition like arthritis or scoliosis), or uneven leg length.
What happens if you don’t treat hip bursitis? Unfortunately, the symptoms you’re experiencing now will only get worse—until you’re forced to get it checked out! Your hip pain could even spread to your thighs and knees. The good news is that hip bursitis is a very common problem, and it responds well to physical therapy! So get it checked out now, so you can get back to doing the things you love—pain free.
We’re Here to Help
At RMC, our goal is simple: to restore function and improve lives. Whether it’s a broken bone or mild hip pain, our expert orthopaedic doctors, surgeons, nurses, and rehabilitation staff are ready to help. Don’t wait until your favorite activities become too painful to do! Address your hip pain now, and get back to living life to the fullest ASAP. Schedule an appointment with us today.