What should you know about hip tendonitis and bursitis?

Tendons connect muscle to bone and can become painful when their workload rises faster than their capacity. Bursae are small fluid-filled cushions that reduce friction near moving structures; irritation in this area can make side-lying, stairs, or prolonged standing uncomfortable. The two problems can occur together, and pain location alone cannot confirm which tissue is involved.

A clinician may assess walking, hip strength, range of motion, tenderness, and pain during resisted movement. They may also consider the lower back and the hip joint because these can refer pain to a similar area. Muscle soreness after exercise often settles with recovery, whereas persistent or worsening pain deserves an assessment.

Temporarily reduce the activities that sharply increase pain, such as hills, repeated stairs, running, or lying on the sore side. Keep comfortable movement rather than complete inactivity. A physiotherapist can select exercises that build the hip and trunk muscles progressively while managing the load on the tendon and bursa.

Supportive treatment may include education, graded strengthening, and changes to sleep or sitting positions. Shockwave therapy or a PRP injection may be discussed in selected persistent cases, but suitability depends on the diagnosis, symptoms, and other health factors. Do not use an injection as a substitute for finding the movement or workload that keeps provoking the pain.

Arrange an assessment if pain persists despite reducing the aggravating activity, disrupts sleep, causes a limp, or limits ordinary tasks. Seek urgent care after a significant fall, or for a hot swollen hip with fever, sudden inability to bear weight, new severe pain, or unexplained weakness or numbness.

Ask which structure is most likely involved, what activity level is safe, and how progress will be measured. You can also ask whether physiotherapy is appropriate, when strengthening should advance, and why a procedure such as shockwave therapy or PRP injection is being considered.