Hip pain


Sometimes it's hard to tell what's what when hips hurt. Arthritis of the hip joint hurts in the groin or the front of the thigh. It increases over time, gets worse with activity, and limits the range of motion of the hip, particularly to internally rotate the joint (accomplished by turning the foot or knee inward towards the middle of the body).

Bursitis, or an inflammation of the lubricating lining of the hip, hurts at night, making sleeping on the affected side difficult. Bursitis also nags when you first rise from a seated position, but this pain subsides quickly.

Finally, pain from the sacro-iliac pain also is improperly identified as hip pain. Lie on your back bending the affected leg at the knee and placing the ankle on the opposite knee in a 'figure 4' configuration. If downward pressure on the knee of the affected side causes pain in the groin, it's the hip. If the pain is around back, the pain is probably from the sacro-iliac joint.