Hip pain

Hip pain is complicated and you deserve answers. We have helped hundreds of people with hip pain get out of pain and get back to being active. This guide will show you that you CAN be in control of your hip pain and will show you how to take the firsts steps TODAY!

We Get You

Hip pain got you all frustrated and keeping you from getting sh*t done? We get it, we have been there before and we are here to help you. We understand how discouraging it can be to want to stay active when you don’t know if what you are doing is helping or causing more hip pain in the long run.

Yes, we have been there and yes, we have helped many others like you (and ourselves) with hip pain get through this process. 


Here’s the thing; you are stronger than you think and you can and WILL get through this. Yes, we are here to help you but remember YOU are the hero of the story here and we are just the guide to point you in the right direction. 

What’s the key you ask? 




Second, is structure. To get the result you want FAST, you need a solid framework you can depend on. One that will point you in the right direction to overcoming that annoying hip pain of yours!


You’re not Alone

Lets clear the air a little here. You are NOT alone. Hip pain is super common and when guided in the right direction, you can get out of pain and FAST.

Here are some common thing we hear from our peeps:







“I was told I have a pinched nerve and to ice and stretch”


If this is the management plan you were given, you were likely not given a thorough exam. Stretching will actually cause a nerve to be MORE painful. 

So if you have been told this please take it easy on that nerve of yours or trust me it will come back more pissed off than before. 

Here is a safe stretch you can try in the meantime:

“I need more stretches for my hip pain, I have tried so many and it keeps coming back. Sometimes even worse”

Well this tells us you may need a different solution than stretching. Often times hip pain is coming from the low back and in those cases stretching will feel good momentarily but you aren’t getting to the root of your hip pain.

Tugging on stuff by stretching doesn’t help everything feel better. So if you have tried and it doesn’t really work… STOP and try some of these instead. 

This is a REALLY important exercise to do because this will give you a big clue on if your hip pain is really a sensitive hip or actually coming from the low back. If this movement makes you feel better head to our low back pain page to learn more!

“I just don’t understand why my hip keeps hurting or what’s going on in there”


This is why we take time with you during our assessment so we know what YOUR goals are. This allows us to give you a plan that works for YOU.

How You Move


It still remains important to find out what tissues are sensitive in the hip so you can take some stress off and protect it for a bit. However, if you never address the cause of the problem it will probably come back. 

I will put it this way, the hip is just crying out for help and therefor is the victim. You don’t lock away the victim when a crime is committed do you?




For example, if your foot lacks the stability to balance during activities like running and walking, that will have a huge effect on joint up your leg and into that hip. That lack of stability will cause more movement all the way up into the hip, which increases mechanical stress on the structures of the hip and possibly even the low back. Enter higher chance of hip pain.

Your brain will figure out a way to get the job done, whether you have mobility/stability in certain places or not. Typically the natural movement for you will be the path of least resistance, which makes sense as conserving energy was once pretty important to us back when we had to hunt and gather for our survival. 

So if the mobility or stability in one area in the body is not available, we will most likely ask more from the surrounding joints. This can lead to some unwanted results. 


Let’s use mobility as an example now. If the ankle is not mobile enough to allow the knee to move forward in a squat, the path of least resistance often becomes a very hip dominant movement (kind of like your whole upper body id bending forward when squatting).

This movement causes a lot more hip flexion motion and over time or under a lot of stress, it can cause some sensitivity in the hip and/or low back. And in this case, all because the ankles were not mobile enough to squat a certain way.

Over time this forward bending squat pattern due to a lack of ankle mobility can lead to your hip pain. So in this case if you address the ankle mobility, you fix the hip pain. Is your mind blown yet? 

So, a great way to decrease stress on that sensitive hip of yours is to make sure your ankle is mobile while making sure your foot and low back are stable. This allows your body to access more motion through the entire body more equally, giving that hip of yours a much needed breather. 

Another great way to decrease stress on the hip joint is by learning how to create more tension with the muscles of the hips and legs. This takes tension off of the joint and moves it to where you want it; the muscles.

Now the next time your brain says to squat down the stress will be spread out since you have unlocked some motion that previously was not available through the ankles. The human body is cool. 

Give these a try:

Ankle mobility: 

Lateral Band Walk: The trick here is to put a bunch of tension on the band around your knees while performing the side walk. You can also do the same thing while squatting and see the difference. Often times this will IMMEDIATELY decrease your hip pain.


Breaking the pain cycle

The key to getting out of pain is breaking the pain cycle early and often. But what does that even mean? Let’s get into it.


Simply put pain is a warning system from the brain similar to an alarm. It tells you to take your hand off that hot stove, dummy. Or it tells you to limp if you have a thorn in your foot until you can take it out. 

However if pain has been present for quite some time or reoccurs often for you, your alarm system can be on high alert. 

We compare this to an overly sensitive car alarm. You know, one that your shirt brushes up against and it starts yelling at you? This is what happens to you when you have had persistent pain. 

The car alarm should only go off when someone is trying to steal it, not walk by it. Just like you should only feel pain when true harm is done. 


To do this it is important to find positions or movements that make your symptoms feel better, even if just for a few minutes. Once you find it, do it often. This breaks the pain cycle and starts to recalibrate your alarm system back to normal.



Finding What Hurts

Finding out the things that make your symptoms worse is a HUGE step to figuring out a solid game plan to get rid of that hip pain. A lot of the times there are multiple movements that have overlapping common characteristics. Again, big time in creating a plan. 








What DOESN’T Hurt




First, you don’t always need to perform a bunch of movements that are focused at the hip joint to get the health benefits you need. In fact, it can be doing more harm than good, leading to more hip pain. 

Think about it, if an area is injured like in this case the hip, why would we stress it even more? Doesn’t make sense right? 

Remember we have established the hip to be the site of pain so we have to find ways to avoid picking the scab. Mobilizing that ankle or moving more efficiently through those hips will be crucial to this process. 

Here is some solid moves to try!

Second, find a movement of the hip that feels good or actually rids the pain. Before we show you a video on how to explore this and how to dose it out, know this is not always possible and if there is a BUNCH of inflammation. 


Finally, just keeping up with general movements that you would see in a normal gym routine can be greatly beneficial to help your hip pain for numerous reasons (endorphin and hormone release that cause pain relief and antidepressive effects are just a couple). 

Keep it simple here. Pick two lower body movements and two upper body movements that do not cause your hip pain then put them together for a workout. 

To sum it up the follow is a great guide to finding movements that will won’t add to any damage and should aid your hip pain. 

  1. Mobilize your ankle, stabilize that foot and low back
  2. Move better through the hips
  3. Find a movement that feels good
  4. Keep working the rest of your body

Management Plan



Your management plan should include prescribed movements that either provide pain relief (think of this as your natural aleve) or make the body more resilient. 

You should also be given advice on how to perform daily activities in the safest manner as to not pick the proverbial scab. This part is crucial as it often overlooked/undervalued and addresses the habits that got you into this situation in the first place.

It is also important that you walk out with advice on how to modify any daily activities, exercise routines or sporting activities that you do. 

For example you may love to stretch the hamstrings and maybe even get after in a forward bend, touching your toes. However in certain cases this can be making your hip pain worse in the long run (specifically for those that experience nerve pain).

Remember when we said your hip pain could be coming from the low back? Well if that is the case and you keep bending forward and stretching your hamstrings, you’re also tugging on the big sciatic nerve that comes from the low back. Enter more hip pain. 

A simple fix for this person could be simply removing that stretch with a safe alternative that is good for them and does not put tension on the nerves of the hip.

See how important this would be for this person’s shoulder pain recovery??




  1. Pain relieving exercises or body positions
  2. Exercises that build resilience
  3. Advice on safe alternatives to daily activities 
  4. Advice on safe modifications on workout routines or sporting activities
  5. Manual therapies that can be self administered

What to expect from us for your first visit



A thorough history where we ask you from top to bottom about the experience you are having related to your hip pain. This is very important to us and should not take any less than 20 minutes.


After we know and understand what your experience is with your hip pain or tightness, it is time to figure out what tissues are sensitive. 







Other times it will look like manual therapy/body work in order to calm down the pain response. This depends on the your wants, needs and at what part of the recovery process you are in. 






  • History
  • Structural Exam (Assessment of what tissues are painful)
  • Treatment 
  • Management Plan 

What We expect From You





We always aim to decrease your symptoms as fast as possible however in more chronic cases we need to identify a pattern and habit that could trigger symptoms. This is the what not to do portion. 




When do I need to get an X-ray/MRI


What it is does NOT tell us is what areas are giving your sensation of pain.

Just like every other aspect of the exam, these images are just data that needs to be correlated to everything else that is gathered in the history and exam.

Though this information can be very useful in certain scenarios, it can also be harmful in many other scenarios. 

For example, if someone is told they have degenerative changes in their hip (which is extremely common and often does not cause pain) they can then become fixated on this and be fearful of movement. 

Degenerative changes is just a medical term for aging or response to stress. This often times does not have a significance on the recovery process. 

So when here is when we think it is a good idea to get imaging:

  1. ANY of the red flags mentioned in the next section
  2. There has been a solid trial of a solid management plan like we mentioned in the management plan section with no change and we just need more information.

Keep in mind when we say exam we mean a complete exam, not the 10 minutes where the doctor scans the area asks you 2-3 questions a performs a minimal structural assessment.


But in a nutshell, imaging is often not necessary to get out of pain and back to an active lifestyle. 

Red Flags



  • Fever or night sweats
  • Unexpected weight loss
  • History of inflammatory arthritis, cancer or infection
  • Intractable night pain
  • Cold sensation down the legs
  • Numbness in the saddle area (genital region)
  • Bowel or bladder dysfunction (inability to hold back urine, increase urge or inability to fully void bladder)
  • Drop attacks, double vision, nausea

What to Look for When Finding a Doctor


  2. Someone who is concerned about YOUR goals
  3. Someone who can give you a game plan that fits your personal needs and goals

Don’t delay, get a free consultation today.


Book now

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