One day, you feel a twinge in your hip. That twinge gets worse, and you start to notice just how many movements your hips make in a day — sitting, rising, walking, climbing stairs. What can you do about it?
It’s complicated, says Daniel Marcus, M.D., a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. “When I ask a patient to point to the pain, you’d be surprised how many areas are identified as the ‘hip,’ ” he says. Patients may point to the side of the body, the groin area, the buttocks or the low back.
What people describe as hip pain may not be pain in the hip joint itself, Dr. Marcus says. “Hip pain is a symptom, not a diagnosis.”