If You're Avoiding Walking Because Your Hip Hurts

Hip pain has a way of stealing your life in small pieces. You stop the morning walk. You sit on a different chair at work. You start dreading getting up after sitting too long. You wake up at night when you roll onto that side. The pain is there when you climb stairs, when you stand up from a low chair, when you put your socks on in the morning. Eventually you stop doing things you used to enjoy.

Here’s what most patients in our Meridian office don’t get told before they end up here: most hip pain isn’t actually a problem in the hip joint itself. The vast majority is referred pain from the lower back, the sacroiliac (SI) joint, or surrounding soft tissue. Treating the hip when the cause is in the lumbar spine is exactly why patients go through cortisone shots, physical therapy, and even hip surgery without resolving the pain. The actual cause is somewhere else.

This page covers the common causes of hip pain we see, how we figure out what’s actually wrong, and what treatment looks like when the diagnosis is finally correct.

What to Do Right Now

• Stop sitting on the painful side. If your right hip hurts, shift weight to the left when sitting.
• Lying on your back with a pillow under your knees takes pressure off most hip and lumbar conditions. This is the recovery position.
• If lying on the painful side hurts, place a pillow between your knees when sleeping on the unaffected side.
• Skip the heavy stretching. Aggressive hip flexor or piriformis stretches often make things worse when the cause is lumbar.
• If you have sudden inability to bear weight, severe groin pain after a fall, or fever with hip pain — go to an ER. Those are signs of fracture or infection.

Where Hip Pain Actually Comes From

The Lumbar Spine — Most Common Cause

L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc problems and joint dysfunction frequently refer pain into the hip and buttock. Patients describe it as hip pain, but exam reveals normal hip motion and the actual problem is at the lumbar level. Pain pattern: typically across the low back and into the upper buttock, sometimes radiating down the leg. Worse with prolonged sitting, bending forward, lifting.

Sacroiliac (SI) Joint Dysfunction

The SI joint sits between your sacrum and pelvis — there’s one on each side. Dysfunction here causes pain that’s often described as “deep hip pain” but actually localizes to a small area just inside the back pocket of your jeans. Often worse on one side than the other. Aggravated by transitions — getting up from sitting, rolling in bed, single-leg activities like climbing stairs. Common after pregnancy, falls, or repetitive single-side loading.

Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome (Bursitis/Tendinopathy)

Pain on the outside of the hip, where you’d put your hands on your hips. Often misdiagnosed as “bursitis” when the actual problem is gluteal tendinopathy — irritation of the gluteus medius and minimus tendons where they attach to the femur. Worse with sleeping on the side, walking long distances, climbing stairs. Common in women over 40 and runners.

Hip Joint Osteoarthritis

True hip joint pain. Pain is typically in the groin or anterior hip, not the outside or back. Worse with weight-bearing activity, stiffness in the morning that loosens up with movement, eventually limited range of motion. X-rays show joint space narrowing. This is a real hip problem and may eventually need joint replacement, but conservative care can manage it for years.

Hip Labral Tears

More common in younger active patients. Sharp pain in the groin or front of the hip with certain movements — often a clicking or catching sensation. Frequently from sports injuries, dance, or repetitive hip motion. Can be diagnosed with MRI arthrogram. Conservative care helps many cases; surgery is sometimes needed.

Piriformis Syndrome

The piriformis muscle deep in the buttock can compress the sciatic nerve, causing pain that radiates down the leg. Often described as hip and buttock pain with leg involvement. Aggravated by sitting and certain movements. Sometimes confused with sciatica from disc problems — the difference matters because treatment is different.

How We Find the Real Cause

Our exam is built specifically to differentiate between these causes:

Hip joint provocation tests — FABER, FADIR, scour tests, internal/external rotation. These tell us whether the hip joint itself is the problem.

Lumbar spine exam — Gonstead motion palpation, neurological screening, range of motion. We check the lumbar spine on every hip patient because referred pain is so common.

SI joint testing — Gaenslen’s, thigh thrust, sacral compression, FABER test. Multiple tests because no single SI test is conclusive.

Soft tissue palpation — gluteal tendons, piriformis, hip flexors, IT band attachments.

Functional movement assessment — single-leg stance, squat, gait analysis. How you move tells us a lot about what’s compensating.

Imaging — standing X-rays of the lumbar spine and hips. For chronic cases or unclear presentations, Digital Motion X-Ray. We are the only DMX-equipped clinic in Idaho — and DMX is uniquely useful for hip patients because it can identify lumbar instability that referred pain into the hip.

Treatment Plan

Treatment depends entirely on what we find. The same patient could need any of:

• Specific Gonstead lumbar adjustments if the cause is referred from L4-L5 or L5-S1
• SI joint mobilization and corrective exercises if the SI is the driver
• Soft tissue work and shockwave therapy for chronic gluteal tendinopathy
• Spinal decompression if disc-related referred pain isn’t responding to adjustments
• Conservative management for true hip osteoarthritis (this isn’t fixable but can be greatly improved)
• Referral to orthopedics for cases that warrant surgical consultation — labral tears not responding to conservative care, severe arthritis, suspected fracture

Most hip patients in our Meridian clinic feel meaningful change within 4-6 visits when the diagnosis is correct. Full resolution typically takes 8-12 visits depending on chronicity and contributing factors. We measure progress objectively and adjust the plan if something isn’t working.

Why Patients Choose Our Meridian Office for Hip Pain

• Three Gonstead-trained doctors with combined 65+ years of experience
• Dr. Beau Warlick — Gonstead Diplomate and former Gonstead Seminar Staff instructor
• Idaho’s only Digital Motion X-Ray clinic — useful for identifying lumbar causes of referred hip pain
• On-site spinal decompression for disc-related referred pain
• Piezo shockwave for chronic gluteal tendinopathy
• 4.8 stars across 124+ Google reviews
• 3085 E Magic View Dr Suite #180 — easy from Meridian, Boise, Nampa, Eagle, Kuna, Star, and Caldwell

Related Conditions We Treat

• Low back pain — most hip pain originates here
• Sciatica — when hip pain travels down the leg
• Knee pain — often related to hip mechanics
• Sports injuries — many hip injuries are sports-related
• Posture problems — postural drivers of hip dysfunction

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my orthopedic surgeon say I need a hip replacement when chiropractic could help?

Sometimes orthopedic surgeons are right and a hip replacement is the answer. Severe osteoarthritis with bone-on-bone joint contact, advanced labral pathology, and certain congenital hip problems may genuinely need surgery. The catch is that many patients diagnosed with “hip arthritis” actually have referred pain from the lumbar spine OR mild hip arthritis combined with significant referred pain — and the lumbar component can be fixed without surgery, often resolving most of the symptoms. We’ve had patients scheduled for hip replacement come in for a second opinion, find out the major driver was their lumbar spine, and avoid surgery entirely. We’ve also had patients where the surgical recommendation was correct and we sent them back to the surgeon. Getting the diagnosis right matters.

My doctor says it's bursitis. Will chiropractic help?

Possibly. “Bursitis” is often a default diagnosis when imaging doesn’t show clear joint disease and pain is on the outside of the hip. The actual problem is frequently gluteal tendinopathy — irritation of the gluteus medius/minimus tendons rather than the bursa itself. The treatments differ: bursa pain typically responds to ice and rest, while tendinopathy needs targeted loading exercises and often shockwave therapy. We diagnose specifically and treat the actual problem. Patients who’ve been managing “bursitis” with cortisone for years often find genuine resolution once it’s properly identified as tendinopathy and treated correctly.

Can chiropractic fix arthritis?

No. Arthritis is a structural change to the joint and chiropractic doesn’t reverse it. But that’s not the question that matters — the question is whether your symptoms can be improved. Most arthritis patients have far more pain than the imaging would predict because their joint dysfunction, muscle imbalance, and compensatory patterns are amplifying the underlying arthritis. Address those, and pain often drops significantly even though the arthritis itself didn’t change. Patients with mild-to-moderate hip osteoarthritis can frequently get back to comfortable, full activity with proper conservative care. Severe end-stage arthritis usually does eventually need joint replacement — but conservative care can buy years of comfortable function before that’s needed.

How long until my hip stops hurting?

Depends on the cause. Most patients feel meaningful change within 4-6 visits when the diagnosis is correct. SI joint dysfunction often resolves quickly — sometimes 6-8 visits. Lumbar referred hip pain depends on what’s happening at the spine — anywhere from 8 to 16 visits. Chronic gluteal tendinopathy treated with shockwave often resolves in 6-8 weeks. Hip osteoarthritis improves but doesn’t “go away” — patients usually settle into ongoing maintenance care to keep symptoms manageable. We give you a realistic timeline after exam.

Is my insurance going to cover this?

Most major insurance plans cover chiropractic care for hip pain when there’s a diagnosed musculoskeletal condition (which there almost always is). We accept Blue Cross Idaho, Regence, Pacific Source, Aetna, Cigna, United Healthcare, Medicare, and most other major carriers. Coverage levels vary by plan and we verify your benefits before the first visit. For uninsured patients we offer transparent cash pricing with payment plans. If your hip pain started after a car accident or work injury, the at-fault insurance or workers’ comp typically covers everything.

Should I get an MRI?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Initial workup with a careful exam and standing X-rays often gets us most of the way to a diagnosis. MRI becomes valuable when (1) we suspect specific soft tissue pathology like a labral tear or significant tendon damage, (2) standard treatment isn’t producing expected results and we need more information, or (3) we’re considering whether to refer for surgical consultation. Going to MRI first without an exam often produces “findings” that don’t actually correlate with symptoms — many people have MRI findings of arthritis, labral wear, or bursitis without significant pain. The exam tells us what to do with the imaging.

My hip pain is worse when I sit. What does that mean?

Strongly suggests a lumbar or SI joint origin rather than a hip joint origin. True hip joint pain is usually worse with weight-bearing activity (walking, standing, stairs) and better with sitting. Pain that’s worse with sitting and better with walking points toward the lumbar spine — sitting loads the lumbar discs and SI joints heavily. This pattern is one of the clearest clinical clues that the cause isn’t where the pain feels like it’s coming from. Patients with this pattern often respond rapidly once we treat the actual lumbar driver.

I'm pregnant and my hip is killing me. Is chiropractic safe?

Yes — pregnancy-related hip and SI joint pain is one of the most common reasons women see chiropractors during pregnancy, and Webster Technique-trained chiropractors specifically address pregnancy biomechanics. Hormonal changes loosen ligaments to prepare for delivery, which destabilizes the SI joints and pelvis. The growing uterus changes weight distribution and lumbar curve, adding stress to hips. We use modified positioning (no face-down adjustments) and gentle techniques throughout pregnancy. Most pregnant patients get significant relief within 2-4 visits. We have extensive experience with pregnancy chiropractic across the Treasure Valley.