Why Does the Outside of My Hip Hurt When I Walk or Stand

Key Takeaways

• Pain on the outside of the hip often behaves differently from pain deep in the groin. Lateral hip pain commonly involves the gluteal tendons and surrounding tissues rather than the hip joint itself.
• Greater trochanteric pain syndrome, or GTPS, is a broad clinical term that commonly includes gluteal tendon problems. The older idea that most lateral hip pain is simply an inflamed bursa is often incomplete.
• Walking and prolonged standing load the hip-abductor muscles and tendons because they help stabilize the pelvis while body weight is supported on one leg.
• Compression can matter as much as tension. Side sleeping, crossing the legs, or repeatedly allowing the hip to move into certain positions can aggravate an already sensitive lateral hip in some patients.
• Severe pain after a fall, inability to bear weight, significant weakness, fever with a hot or swollen joint, progressive neurological symptoms, or persistent unexplained pain requires evaluation for conditions beyond routine tendon-related lateral hip pain.

The Location of Hip Pain Gives Us an Important Starting Point

Patients use the word hip to describe a surprisingly large area.

One person points directly to the groin.

Another points to the buttock.

Another places a hand over the outside of the upper thigh and says:

“My hip hurts right here whenever I walk very far.”

Those locations can represent different clinical problems.

Pain directly over the outside of the hip often directs attention toward structures surrounding the greater trochanter, the prominent portion of the upper femur that you can feel along the side of the hip.

Several important tendons and soft tissues interact in this region.

Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome Is More Than Bursitis

For years, lateral hip pain was frequently called:

“Trochanteric bursitis.”

There are bursae around the greater trochanter, and they can become irritated.

But contemporary understanding of lateral hip pain recognizes that the gluteal tendons, particularly the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus tendons, are often important contributors.

That is why the broader term greater trochanteric pain syndrome, or GTPS, is commonly used.

GTPS can include:

• Gluteal tendinopathy
• Bursal irritation
• Other local lateral hip structures

This distinction affects treatment.

If a tendon has lost load tolerance, repeatedly trying only to reduce “inflammation” may miss a major part of the problem.

The Gluteal Tendons Work Every Time You Stand on One Leg

Walking is essentially a repeated series of brief single-leg positions.

Each time one foot leaves the ground, the muscles on the outside of the stance-side hip help control the pelvis.

The gluteus medius and gluteus minimus are especially important.

Their tendons therefore experience repeated load during:

• Walking
• Running
• Climbing stairs
• Standing on one leg

When those tendons become sensitive, ordinary weight-bearing can become painful.

This helps explain why someone may feel relatively comfortable sitting but develop lateral hip pain after walking through a grocery store or standing at an event.

Tendon Pain Is Often a Load-and-Capacity Problem

A tendon is designed to accept load.

The goal is not to eliminate load forever.

Symptoms can develop when the demands placed on a tendon exceed what it can currently tolerate.

That may occur after:

• A sudden increase in walking
• Starting a new exercise program
• More hills or stairs
• Returning to running
• A substantial increase in standing
• A change in work demands

Sometimes there is no dramatic injury at all.

The patient simply realizes that the outside of the hip has gradually become more sensitive.

Why Walking Can Hurt More the Longer You Go

A common pattern is:

“I’m fine for the first few minutes, but after I walk for a while my hip starts aching.”

That delayed onset can tell us something about capacity.

The lateral hip may tolerate:

• 5 minutes of walking

but not yet tolerate:

• 30 minutes

without symptoms.

That does not automatically mean each additional step is damaging the tendon.

It may mean the current workload exceeds the region’s present tolerance.

One goal of rehabilitation is to increase that tolerance progressively.

Standing Can Load the Hip More Than Patients Expect

Standing seems passive, but the way someone stands can influence lateral hip loading.

A common relaxed posture is to shift most of the body weight onto one leg and allow the pelvis to drift sideways.

People may remain in that position while:

• Talking
• Cooking
• Waiting in line
• Working at a counter

For a sensitive lateral hip, repeatedly hanging on the same side can become provocative.

Temporarily distributing weight more evenly or changing positions may reduce irritation.

That does not mean asymmetrical standing is inherently damaging.

It means a position that is normally harmless can become uncomfortable when the tissues are already sensitive.

Compression Is an Important Part of Gluteal Tendon Pain

Tendons experience more than pulling forces.

They can also experience compression against nearby structures.

At the lateral hip, certain positions may increase compression around the gluteal tendons.

This can help explain why patients with GTPS sometimes report pain when:

• Sleeping on the painful side
• Crossing the legs
• Standing with the hip pushed outward
• Allowing the top leg to fall across the body while sleeping

The treatment implication is not to permanently avoid those positions.

During an irritable phase, however, temporarily reducing repeated compression may help settle symptoms enough to begin rebuilding capacity.

Side Sleeping Is a Classic Lateral Hip Complaint

A patient with GTPS may say:

“I can’t sleep on that side anymore.”

Direct pressure on a sensitive lateral hip can be uncomfortable.

But some patients are surprised that the top hip can hurt while lying on the opposite side.

If the unsupported upper leg falls across the body, the lateral hip tissues may remain in a compressed position for a prolonged period.

A pillow between the knees and thighs can sometimes make the position more comfortable by supporting the upper leg.

This is a symptom-management strategy, not a cure.

Why Stairs May Hurt

Stair climbing increases the demands placed on the lower extremity.

The hip muscles must help:

• Control the pelvis
• Generate force
• Stabilize the femur

A sensitive gluteal tendon may therefore become more noticeable on stairs.

The same patient may also report difficulty with:

• Hills
• Step-ups
• Getting out of a low chair
• Single-leg exercise

These activities help us understand how much load the hip can currently tolerate.

Hip-Abductor Weakness Can Be Relevant, but “Weak Glutes” Is Not a Complete Diagnosis

Patients are frequently told:

“Your glutes are weak.”

Sometimes strength deficits are clinically meaningful.

But simply finding weakness does not prove that weakness caused the pain.

Pain itself can also reduce force production.

A better evaluation asks:

• Is there meaningful side-to-side difference?
• Does loading reproduce familiar symptoms?
• How much endurance does the patient have?
• What happens during single-leg tasks?
• Does strength improve as symptoms improve?

Strength becomes useful when it is interpreted within the whole clinical picture.

Tendons Usually Need Progressive Loading, Not Endless Rest

When a tendon is highly irritable, reducing provocative activity temporarily may be appropriate.

But prolonged avoidance can reduce capacity.

Then the patient tries to return to normal walking and symptoms immediately recur.

This creates the familiar cycle:

Activity → pain → complete rest → improvement → full return → pain again

A more useful long-term strategy is often to find an appropriate starting load and gradually increase it.

Tendons generally adapt to progressive loading.

Stretching Is Not Automatically the Answer

A painful lateral hip often feels tight.

The instinct is to stretch it aggressively.

But certain stretches place the hip into positions that can increase compression around the lateral gluteal tendons.

For an irritable tendon, repeatedly forcing those positions may aggravate symptoms.

This does not mean stretching is always harmful.

It means the patient should not assume:

“It hurts, therefore it must be tight, therefore I need to stretch it harder.”

Sometimes the more important intervention is progressive strengthening and temporary management of compressive positions.

Not Every Outside-Hip Pain Is GTPS

Lateral hip pain can also arise from other conditions.

The lumbar spine, for example, can refer pain toward the hip.

Nerve-related symptoms may extend into the lateral thigh.

Other local hip conditions can also produce overlapping discomfort.

This is why the examination should not stop at:

“It hurts over the greater trochanter, so it must be bursitis.”

Location gives us a starting point.

The complete symptom pattern helps establish the diagnosis.

Groin Pain Points Us Toward a Different Differential Diagnosis

Pain deep in the groin is often more suggestive of the hip joint itself than classic lateral GTPS.

Potential joint-related conditions include:

• Osteoarthritis
• Other intra-articular hip disorders

Patients may notice:

• Groin pain
• Stiffness
• Difficulty putting on shoes or socks
• Reduced hip rotation
• Pain getting into or out of a car

A patient can certainly have more than one condition.

But distinguishing lateral pain from deep groin pain helps organize the evaluation.

Hip Osteoarthritis Can Sometimes Produce Broader Pain

Hip osteoarthritis does not always remain neatly confined to the groin.

Symptoms can sometimes be perceived around the:

• Lateral hip
• Thigh
• Buttock
• Knee

That is why pain location alone cannot establish a diagnosis.

If examination shows substantial loss of hip motion, particularly when combined with age, stiffness, and weight-bearing symptoms, the hip joint deserves consideration.

Imaging may become useful when it will clarify the diagnosis or affect management.

The Low Back Can Refer Pain Toward the Hip

Lumbar problems can sometimes produce pain around the buttock or lateral hip.

Clues that may shift attention toward the lumbar spine include:

• Low-back pain
• Symptoms extending farther down the leg
• Numbness or tingling
• Pain strongly influenced by spinal movement
• Neurological changes

That does not mean every patient with lateral hip pain needs lumbar treatment.

The low back should be examined when the history suggests it may be relevant.

Numbness Is Not Typical of an Isolated Gluteal Tendon Problem

Tendon pain is generally painful rather than numb.

If the patient describes:

• Tingling
• Burning
• Numbness
• Electrical sensations

we consider neurological causes.

A sensory nerve condition such as meralgia paresthetica can produce burning or numbness over the outer thigh.

Lumbar nerve involvement can also produce sensory symptoms.

These presentations require a different clinical approach from straightforward GTPS.

A Fall Changes the Level of Caution

Lateral hip pain after a fall deserves careful evaluation.

A patient may have:

• Bruising
• Soft-tissue injury
• Tendon injury
• Fracture

The ability to walk does not completely exclude a fracture.

This is especially important in older adults and patients with reduced bone density.

Persistent significant hip or groin pain after a fall may warrant imaging even when the patient initially remained weight-bearing.

A suspected fracture should not be treated with manipulation while waiting to see if it improves.

Sudden Significant Weakness May Suggest More Than Tendinopathy

Gluteal tendons can develop substantial structural injury.

A patient with:

• Sudden onset after trauma
• Marked weakness
• Major difficulty bearing weight
• Significant functional loss

may require further evaluation for a more substantial tendon injury or other structural problem.

Not every gluteal tendon problem needs advanced imaging.

But significant weakness changes the threshold.

When Outside-Hip Pain Should Be Evaluated

Evaluation becomes appropriate when:

• Pain persists or repeatedly returns
• Walking distance is progressively decreasing
• Standing becomes increasingly difficult
• Side sleeping is consistently disrupted
• Stairs become painful
• Significant weakness develops
• Symptoms follow a fall or other trauma
• Numbness or tingling accompanies the pain
• The source of the symptoms remains unclear

Prompt medical evaluation is appropriate for symptoms such as:

• Inability to bear weight after significant trauma
• Obvious deformity
• Severe rapidly worsening pain
• A hot, red, markedly swollen region with fever or systemic illness
• Progressive neurological weakness
• Severe unexplained pain accompanied by systemic symptoms

The central question is not simply:

“Is this hip bursitis?”

It is:

“Is the lateral hip painful because the gluteal tendons and surrounding tissues are no longer tolerating the demands of walking and standing, or is there a joint, neurological, traumatic, or other condition that requires a different approach?”

How Doyle Chiropractic Evaluates Lateral Hip Pain

The evaluation begins by identifying where the patient actually feels the pain and what types of loading reproduce it.

Dr. Geoffrey Doyle may ask about:

• Exact pain location
• Whether symptoms are lateral, in the groin, or in the buttock
• How far the patient can walk before pain develops
• Pain with prolonged standing
• Pain on stairs or hills
• Difficulty with single-leg activities
• Side-sleeping pain
• Recent changes in walking, running, or exercise
• Previous hip or low-back problems
• Recent falls or trauma
• Numbness, tingling, or burning
• Weakness or changes in walking

The physical examination may assess:

• Hip range of motion
• Gluteal tendon tenderness
• Hip-abductor strength
• Single-leg control
• Functional movements such as squatting or stepping
• Walking mechanics when relevant
• Lumbar movement when the history suggests a spinal contribution
• Neurological function when sensory symptoms or weakness are present

One of the most important objectives is distinguishing a load-sensitive lateral hip problem from pain originating in the hip joint, lumbar spine, nervous system, or another condition.

Treatment Should Match the Structure and the Irritability

For appropriately selected musculoskeletal lateral hip conditions, conservative treatment may include:

• Activity and load modification
• Therapeutic exercise
• Progressive gluteal strengthening
• Movement retraining when indicated
• Manual treatment
• Soft tissue therapy
• Class IV laser therapy when clinically appropriate
• Temporary strategies to reduce irritating compression

The starting point depends on how irritable the hip is.

Someone who develops mild aching only after walking several miles can often tolerate more exercise than someone who currently hurts:

• Walking across a room
• Climbing a few stairs
• Standing for several minutes
• Sleeping in multiple positions

Rehabilitation should begin at a level the patient can reasonably tolerate and progress from there.

Gluteal Tendons Need the Right Amount of Load

One of the central principles in tendon rehabilitation is finding a useful dose of loading.

Too little load may fail to stimulate adaptation.

Too much load may repeatedly flare the symptoms.

The goal is the middle ground:

Enough challenge to build capacity without continually overwhelming the tendon.

Early exercise may involve relatively controlled strengthening.

As tolerance improves, the program can progress toward:

• Heavier resistance
• Single-leg loading
• Step-based exercises
• Longer walking
• Faster movement
• Running or sport when appropriate

The eventual exercise should reflect what the patient wants to return to.

Hip-Abductor Strength Is Often an Important Part of Rehabilitation

Because the gluteus medius and minimus help stabilize the pelvis during single-leg support, strengthening these muscles can be particularly relevant for GTPS.

Depending on the patient’s presentation, exercise may include variations of:

• Hip-abduction strengthening
• Bridges
• Squats
• Step-ups
• Single-leg exercises
• Loaded functional movements

The program does not need to remain limited to small rehabilitation exercises forever.

A tendon that eventually needs to tolerate substantial walking, hiking, running, or sport should progressively encounter meaningful resistance.

Exercise Should Progress Beyond the Treatment Table

Early exercises are useful when they establish comfortable loading.

But daily life occurs in weight-bearing.

Eventually, many patients need to progress toward tasks such as:

• Standing on one leg
• Stepping up
• Stepping down
• Squatting
• Walking farther
• Climbing hills
• Carrying loads

The transition from isolated exercise to functional loading is important.

A patient may become excellent at a side-lying exercise while still struggling to walk through an airport.

The rehabilitation goal is the airport—not the exercise itself.

Walking Can Become Part of the Rehabilitation Program

For someone whose symptoms appear after walking, walking itself provides useful information.

Suppose pain consistently begins after approximately twenty minutes.

Rather than repeatedly walking until symptoms become severe, the initial program might use a more tolerable amount and gradually increase exposure.

Progress may involve changes in:

• Duration
• Distance
• Terrain
• Speed
• Frequency

This turns walking from an unpredictable aggravating activity into a measurable rehabilitation variable.

The exact progression should be individualized rather than based on a universal mileage rule.

Standing Tolerance Can Also Be Progressively Restored

For patients who hurt primarily while standing, rehabilitation should eventually address standing demands.

Early symptom-management strategies might include:

• Changing positions more frequently
• Avoiding prolonged weight shift onto the painful side
• Alternating tasks
• Brief movement periods

As the hip becomes less irritable and stronger, the patient should ideally become less dependent on these strategies.

The objective is not to teach someone that standing asymmetrically is dangerous.

It is to restore enough capacity that ordinary standing positions no longer dominate their day.

Compression Management Can Help During an Irritable Phase

For selected patients with lateral hip pain, temporarily reducing sustained compressive positions can make rehabilitation more comfortable.

That may include modifying:

• Side sleeping
• Leg crossing
• Prolonged standing with the hip pushed outward
• Certain aggressive stretches

A pillow between the thighs during side sleeping can sometimes reduce symptoms by supporting the upper leg.

These strategies are not meant to create permanent movement restrictions.

They reduce unnecessary irritation while the tendon is being progressively strengthened.

Stretching Should Be Individualized

Some patients genuinely have mobility limitations that deserve attention.

Others have adequate mobility but continue stretching the painful lateral hip because it feels tight.

When gluteal tendon compression appears important, repeatedly forcing the hip into aggressive adduction stretches may be counterproductive.

This is why treatment should not be reduced to:

“Hip pain means the hip needs to be stretched.”

Sometimes mobility matters.

Sometimes strength matters more.

Sometimes both matter.

The examination helps determine the balance.

Chiropractic and Manual Treatment

Chiropractic or manual treatment may be incorporated when examination identifies clinically relevant musculoskeletal restrictions involving the:

• Hip
• Pelvis
• Lumbar spine
• Other mechanically related regions

The objective may be to improve movement and reduce mechanical sensitivity when those findings relate to the patient’s symptoms.

Treatment should not be explained as repeatedly putting the hip or pelvis “back into place.”

Manual treatment is also not appropriate over a suspected fracture or unstable acute structural injury.

When trauma raises concern for fracture, diagnostic evaluation takes priority.

Manual Care Should Complement Tendon Rehabilitation

Manual treatment may help a patient:

• Move more comfortably
• Reduce surrounding muscular guarding
• Improve a relevant mobility restriction

But if the primary problem is a gluteal tendon that cannot currently tolerate the patient’s walking demands, passive treatment alone does not progressively load that tendon.

This distinction matters.

Manual care may improve the environment for rehabilitation.

Progressive exercise develops the capacity required for lasting function.

Soft Tissue Therapy

Soft tissue treatment may be incorporated when relevant muscular tenderness or guarding is present around the hip.

Potential treatment areas may include selected:

• Gluteal muscles
• Adjacent hip musculature
• Other related soft tissues

Treatment may improve comfort and movement.

However, aggressively pressing directly into a highly sensitive lateral hip is not automatically helpful simply because the area is tender.

The irritability of the tissue should guide treatment intensity.

Class IV Laser Therapy

Class IV laser therapy may be incorporated as an adjunct for selected musculoskeletal lateral hip conditions when clinically appropriate.

It may be used alongside:

• Progressive exercise
• Load management
• Manual treatment
• Activity modification

Laser therapy does not replace the need to progressively restore tendon capacity.

It also does not reverse advanced hip osteoarthritis, repair a major tendon tear, or treat a fracture.

When symptoms suggest a condition requiring imaging or specialist evaluation, that diagnostic pathway takes priority.

The Low Back Should Be Treated Only When It Is Relevant

Some patients with lateral hip pain also have clinically meaningful lumbar findings.

Others do not.

When the history and examination indicate that the lumbar spine contributes to the patient’s symptoms, treatment may appropriately address both regions.

But treating the lumbar spine simply because it is anatomically nearby does not make sense if:

• Lumbar movement is normal
• There are no relevant neurological findings
• The patient’s symptoms behave strongly like a local lateral hip problem

Treatment should follow the findings.

The Dr. Doyle Perspective

“When somebody points to the outside of their hip and tells me it hurts after they walk for twenty minutes, I don’t automatically call it bursitis. I want to know what happens when they stand on that leg, how strong the hip is, whether sleeping on it hurts, and whether there’s any groin pain or anything coming from the low back. A lot of these patients have a load problem involving the gluteal tendons. If that’s what we find, the goal isn’t just to make the sore spot feel better. We need to build the hip back up so they can walk, stand, climb stairs, and sleep comfortably again.”

— Dr. Geoffrey Doyle, DC

Our Clinical Experience

A common patient has gradually developed pain over the outside of the hip.

They may have already been told:

“It’s bursitis.”

They rest.

The pain improves.

They begin walking again.

The pain returns.

That cycle can continue because symptom reduction and restored tissue capacity are not the same thing.

When the clinical pattern supports a gluteal tendon-related problem, we often become interested in how much load the patient can tolerate now and how we can progressively increase it.

Another patient may point to the same lateral hip but also describe:

• Burning down the thigh
• Numbness
• Low-back symptoms

That presentation may require a neurological or lumbar evaluation.

Another may develop severe hip pain after a fall.

That changes the pathway again.

The location may look similar on a body diagram.

The diagnosis cannot be made from the body diagram alone.

Measuring Recovery by Restoring Real-World Capacity

For lateral hip pain, meaningful progress may include being able to:

• Walk farther
• Stand longer
• Climb stairs
• Sleep comfortably
• Get through a workday
• Hike
• Exercise
• Return to running or sport

We may also reassess:

• Hip strength
• Single-leg control
• Functional movement
• Walking tolerance
• Symptom response after activity

A patient who no longer hurts because they stopped walking has achieved symptom reduction.

A patient who can comfortably return to the walking distance that matters to them has restored function.

That is a more meaningful endpoint.

When X-Rays May Be Useful

X-rays may be appropriate when there is concern for:

• Hip osteoarthritis
• Fracture
• Significant bony pathology
• Other structural conditions

They may be particularly useful when the patient has:

• Significant loss of hip motion
• Groin-dominant symptoms
• Persistent weight-bearing pain
• Relevant trauma

Imaging findings should still be correlated with the clinical presentation.

Degenerative changes on an X-ray do not automatically explain every lateral hip symptom.

When MRI or Ultrasound May Be Appropriate

Advanced imaging may be considered when there is concern for:

• Significant gluteal tendon injury
• Persistent symptoms despite appropriate conservative treatment
• Substantial unexplained weakness
• Other soft-tissue pathology

MRI can provide information about:

• Gluteal tendons
• Muscles
• Hip joint structures
• Other surrounding tissues

Diagnostic ultrasound may also be useful for selected superficial tendon and bursal conditions.

Imaging is most useful when it answers a question that could change management.

When Orthopedic or Sports-Medicine Referral May Be Appropriate

Referral may be appropriate when there is:

• Suspected significant tendon tear
• Advanced hip osteoarthritis
• Major traumatic injury
• Persistent substantial functional loss
• Symptoms that fail to improve despite an appropriate conservative program
• Another condition requiring specialist management

Conservative care is often appropriate for musculoskeletal lateral hip pain.

But conservative treatment should not become a reason to delay referral when the clinical findings indicate that more specialized evaluation is needed.

Hip Pain After a Fall Deserves Special Attention

A patient who develops substantial hip or groin pain after a fall should be evaluated carefully for fracture.

This is especially important in:

• Older adults
• People with osteoporosis or reduced bone density
• Patients taking medications or having conditions that affect bone health

Some hip fractures can initially be difficult to identify.

Persistent significant pain or difficulty bearing weight after trauma may require imaging even when the patient was initially able to walk.

A suspected fracture should not be manipulated.

A Hot, Red, Systemically Ill Patient Is Different From Routine GTPS

Typical gluteal tendon-related pain does not cause a patient to become systemically ill.

Prompt medical evaluation is appropriate when hip-region pain occurs with findings such as:

• Fever
• Significant redness
• Marked swelling
• Severe rapidly progressive pain
• Other signs of systemic illness

Infection and other serious conditions must be considered.

These presentations do not belong in a routine tendon rehabilitation pathway.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the outside of my hip hurt when I walk?

Walking repeatedly loads the muscles and tendons that stabilize the pelvis during single-leg support. When the gluteal tendons or surrounding lateral hip tissues become sensitive, longer walking can reproduce symptoms.

Is outside hip pain always bursitis?

No. Greater trochanteric pain syndrome often involves the gluteal tendons, with or without bursal irritation. Calling every lateral hip problem bursitis can oversimplify the condition.

What is greater trochanteric pain syndrome?

GTPS is a broad term for pain arising from structures around the greater trochanter on the outside of the hip. Gluteal tendinopathy is commonly involved.

Why does my hip hurt when I stand for a long time?

Prolonged standing requires ongoing muscular control around the hip. Repeatedly shifting most of the body weight onto one side can also aggravate a sensitive lateral hip in some patients.

Why does my hip hurt when I sleep on my side?

Direct pressure can compress sensitive tissues around the greater trochanter. Even the upper hip can sometimes become uncomfortable if the unsupported leg falls across the body and increases compression around the lateral hip.

Should I stretch the outside of my hip?

Not automatically. Certain aggressive stretches can increase compression around an irritable gluteal tendon. Stretching is more appropriate when the examination identifies a relevant mobility limitation.

Should I stop walking if my hip hurts?

That depends on the diagnosis and severity. Some patients benefit from temporarily reducing walking volume and then progressively rebuilding it rather than stopping all activity for an extended period.

Can chiropractic care help lateral hip pain?

For appropriately selected musculoskeletal conditions, conservative care may include manual treatment, therapeutic exercise, progressive strengthening, load management, and treatment of other clinically relevant movement restrictions.

Can lateral hip pain come from my low back?

Yes. Lumbar conditions can sometimes refer pain toward the buttock or lateral hip. Numbness, tingling, radiating symptoms, or pain strongly influenced by spinal movement may increase suspicion of a neurological or lumbar contribution.

When should I have lateral hip pain evaluated?

Persistent or worsening pain, decreasing walking tolerance, significant weakness, neurological symptoms, symptoms after trauma, or substantial interference with sleep and daily function warrant evaluation.

When is lateral hip pain more urgent?

Inability to bear weight after trauma, suspected fracture, severe rapidly worsening pain, significant neurological weakness, or a hot or markedly swollen region accompanied by fever or systemic illness requires prompt medical assessment.