Hip pain is one of the more frustrating complaints I see. Patients come in after weeks — sometimes months — of dealing with it. They’ve tried rest. Ice. Stretching. Maybe a cortisone shot. And they’re still stuck.
Part of the problem is that hip pain almost never has a single obvious cause. The hip joint sits at the intersection of your spine, pelvis, and lower extremities. Pain in that area can come from the joint itself, the surrounding muscles, the sacroiliac joint, or nerve pathways that originate in your lower back. Getting the right answer requires an actual evaluation, not guesswork.
That’s what we do here. Before I treat anything, I want to understand where your pain is actually coming from.
What Does Hip Pain Actually Feel Like?
Location matters a lot when it comes to the hip. Where exactly it hurts often tells me more than how bad it hurts.
There are three primary zones:
- Front of the hip / groin area. Deep aching or a sharp pinch right where your thigh meets your pelvis. Usually worse climbing stairs, getting in and out of a car, or sitting for long periods. Often tied to hip osteoarthritis, hip impingement, or labral issues.
- Outer hip / lateral side. A burning or tender ache over the bony point of the hip. Frequently flares up with walking, lying on that side, or getting out of a car. This one is classic hip bursitis or gluteus medius tendinopathy.
- Buttocks / posterior hip. A deep ache or pressure in the back of the hip and glute region. This is where things get tricky — pain here is often not the hip joint at all. It’s frequently the SI joint, the piriformis muscle, or referred pain from the lumbar spine.
The sensations vary too. Some patients describe a grinding or clicking. Others have a dull constant ache that spikes with movement. Pain that radiates down the leg or into the knee usually signals nerve involvement.
What’s Actually Causing Your Hip Pain? (It’s Not Always the Hip)
This is the part most people don’t know. A significant portion of patients I see for hip pain are actually dealing with a problem that originates somewhere else entirely.
The most common conditions mistaken for true hip joint pain:
- Sciatica and lumbar disc problems. The sciatic nerve exits the lower spine and travels through the glute and down the leg. Irritation or compression at the lumbar level frequently creates pain that feels exactly like hip pain. If your discomfort radiates into the thigh, knee, or calf, the spine needs to be evaluated.
- Sacroiliac joint dysfunction. The SI joint connects your spine to your pelvis. Inflammation or restricted motion there sends pain directly into the hip and groin — sometimes mimicking a true hip joint problem almost perfectly.
- Piriformis syndrome. The piriformis muscle sits deep in the glute and can compress the sciatic nerve. It causes hip and buttock pain that often gets worse sitting and can send pain down the back of the leg.
- Herniated or bulging lumbar discs. A disc problem in the lower back can create referred pain patterns that land in the hip, groin, or thigh — even when there’s no back pain present.
- Gluteal tendinopathy. Overuse or irritation of the tendons attaching your glute muscles to the hip bone. Often mistaken for bursitis.
This is exactly why I don’t start treatment on the first visit. I need to figure out what we’re actually dealing with before I put hands on anything.
What Does a Misaligned Hip Feel Like?
The hips are the anchor point for your spine. When the pelvis is tilted or one hip is shifted, your whole body compensates.
Patients with pelvic and hip misalignment often describe:
- A persistent uneven feeling — like one side is higher, or one leg feels shorter
- Chronic aching in the lower back, groin, or SI joint area
- One glute or hip flexor that feels chronically tight or knotted no matter how much you stretch
- Gait changes — a slight lean, an uneven stride, or a tendency to favor one side
- Radiating pain into the knee or ankle on one side
- A clicking, popping, or catching sensation when moving the hip
What’s happening mechanically is that the misalignment shifts how load is distributed. Joints on one side take more stress. Muscles on one side overwork to compensate. Over time that creates wear patterns and inflammation that compound the original problem.
Correcting pelvic alignment is a core part of what I do for hip pain patients — and in many cases it’s what finally moves the needle when other approaches haven’t.
When that side-to-side unevenness traces back to the spine itself, hip and pelvic asymmetry caused by scoliosis is something I evaluate and manage as well.
First Signs of a Hip Problem — What to Watch For
Hip problems rarely announce themselves with a dramatic injury. More often they creep in. People ignore the early signals, chalk it up to age or soreness, and come in six months later with something that’s much harder to correct.
Early warning signs worth paying attention to:
- Morning stiffness in the hip or groin that takes a while to loosen up
- A subtle limp or shift in your walking pattern — sometimes you notice it, sometimes others point it out
- Trouble with basic movements like putting on shoes or socks, crossing your legs, or getting up from a low chair
- A dull ache in the groin or outer hip that flares up after activity
- Popping, snapping, or clicking in the joint during movement
- Reduced range of motion — can’t rotate the leg outward like you used to
These are your body’s early signals that something is off. The earlier you address them, the easier the correction. Waiting until you’re limping or unable to sleep is a much harder starting point.
What Flares Up Hip Pain?
Understanding your triggers is part of the evaluation process. Different aggravating factors point toward different underlying causes.
The most common things that flare hip pain:
- Prolonged sitting. Staying in one position for extended periods tightens the hip flexors, reduces joint lubrication, and compresses the SI joint. If your pain is worst at the end of a work day or after a long drive, this is likely a factor.
- Repetitive movement patterns. Running, cycling, climbing stairs repeatedly — activities that rotate the hip over and over can irritate tendons, bursae, and the IT band.
- Sleeping position. Lying on the affected hip puts direct pressure on the bursa and surrounding tissue. Even side sleeping on the opposite hip can create tension across the pelvis.
- Weak glutes and core. This one surprises people. When the stabilizing muscles around the hip aren’t doing their job, the joint itself absorbs more stress. A lot of chronic hip pain has a muscle imbalance component.
- Poor posture and movement mechanics. Slouching, uneven weight bearing, and repetitive asymmetrical movements all create cumulative strain over time.
Part of what I look at during your evaluation is which of these are active contributors for you specifically.
Is Your Hip Pain Skeletal or Muscular?
This is a common question — and it matters because the answer shapes treatment.
Here’s a general way to think about it:
- Muscular pain tends to be sharp and localized. You can often pinpoint a tender spot. It’s usually triggered by active movement, stretching, or putting tension on the specific muscle. It often eases with rest.
- Bone and joint pain tends to feel deep and aching. It may throb. It’s often triggered by weight bearing, walking, or pivoting. It can worsen at night and make sleeping on that side uncomfortable.
That said, these patterns overlap more than people expect. Bursitis feels like joint pain. Referred nerve pain from the spine mimics both. That’s why self-diagnosis here is unreliable — and why I take a thorough history and physical exam before drawing any conclusions.
I also refer out for imaging when I need it. X-rays and MRI tell me things a physical exam can’t. I won’t start treatment until I have enough information to be confident in the diagnosis.
Can a Chiropractor Help With Hip Pain?
Yes — with the right evaluation behind it.
Chiropractic care is well-suited for hip pain that stems from joint dysfunction, pelvic misalignment, SI joint problems, referred pain from the lumbar spine, and muscle imbalances. These are the most common sources of hip pain in the patients I see.
What treatment actually looks like depends on what I find. For most hip pain patients, that includes some combination of:
- Pelvic and sacroiliac joint adjustments to correct alignment and restore proper motion
- Lumbar spine work when the hip pain has a referral component from a disc or nerve root
- Soft tissue therapy targeting the hip flexors, piriformis, glutes, and IT band
- Traction therapy using our Invertrac system when lumbar compression is contributing to hip symptoms
- Movement and exercise guidance to address the muscle imbalances that are feeding the problem
What I don’t do is treat the hip in isolation. If your pelvis is tilted, your lumbar spine is stiff, and your glute muscles are weak, adjusting just the hip joint isn’t going to hold. We address the full mechanical picture.
Pregnant patients dealing with hip and pelvic pain have a dedicated care pathway — read more about how we approach hip and pelvic pain that worsens during pregnancy on our prenatal chiropractic page.”
How Dr. Brockway Evaluates and Treats Hip Pain at Glendale Chiropractic
The first visit is an evaluation. Full stop. I’m not adjusting anything until I know what I’m dealing with.
That evaluation runs about 30 minutes. We go through your history — when the pain started, what makes it worse, what you’ve tried, whether it’s changed over time. Then a physical exam. I’m looking at your posture, gait, range of motion, muscle strength, and joint mobility. I test the specific movements and positions that reproduce your symptoms.
In most cases, I want X-rays before beginning adjustments. I refer out for imaging — we don’t do it in-house — but I’ll tell you exactly what I need and where to go. Once I have the images, I review them myself and factor them into the treatment plan.
If you’re in significant pain at that first visit, I may provide some palliative soft tissue work to take the edge off. But the adjustment work begins once I’m confident in what I’m treating.
Follow-up visits are focused and efficient. Most patients come in two to three times per week during the initial phase, then we taper as things stabilize. I reassess regularly — if you’re not making progress, we change the approach.
Glendale Chiropractic is at 425 S. Cherry St., Suite 307, in Glendale — right off I-25 and Colorado Blvd. We see patients from across Denver, Cherry Creek, Capitol Hill, Park Hill, Aurora, and surrounding areas.
| ⚠ WHEN TO SEEK IMMEDIATE CARE Hip pain is sometimes a warning sign of something more serious. Seek emergency or urgent medical care if you experience: Inability to bear weight or walk on the affected leg Visible deformity — leg appears shorter or rotated outward Fever, chills, or night sweats accompanying hip pain Severe pain after a fall or trauma, even without visible injury Sudden numbness, tingling, or weakness radiating below the knee Unexplained weight loss alongside persistent hip pain Swelling, redness, or extreme heat in the hip or groin area These symptoms can indicate fractures, infections, or other conditions that require imaging and specialist evaluation. I’ll tell you directly if what you’re describing is outside the scope of chiropractic care. |
Ready to Find Out What’s Actually Going On With Your Hip?
If you’ve been dealing with hip pain that hasn’t responded to rest, stretching, or other treatments — it’s worth getting a real evaluation. Not a guess. Not a one-size-fits-all protocol. An actual look at what’s driving your specific problem.
Call Glendale Chiropractic at 720-889-1659 to schedule. We’re open Monday through Thursday, 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 2:30 to 6:00 PM. New patients are welcome.