Hip Pain Treatment in Plymouth
The hip is a powerful, load-bearing joint that plays a central role in almost every movement you make — walking, sitting down, climbing stairs, exercising or simply standing for any length of time. When it's painful or restricted, the impact on daily life is immediate.
Hip pain can arise from the joint itself, from the tendons and muscles around it, from the lower back and pelvis, or from nerve irritation — which is why accurate assessment matters so much. Treating the wrong structure simply won't get results.
At KS Sports Therapy in Plymouth, we work out exactly where your pain is coming from before we decide how to treat it — because getting that right is everything.
Common Causes
Symptoms to Look Out For
What Can Help?
For hip pain driven by tendon irritation or muscle tightness, one of the most important short-term strategies is load management — reducing the activities that provoke pain to a level the tissue can tolerate, without stopping movement altogether. Prolonged sitting with the hip in a compressed position can aggravate many hip conditions, so regular position changes and gentle walking are often more helpful than extended rest.
Gentle stretching of the hip flexors and glutes can help ease tension, though the specific stretches that are most useful depend on the nature of your problem — some stretches that help one condition can aggravate another.
Strengthening the glutes is one of the most consistently useful things for lateral hip pain and gluteal tendinopathy, though this needs to be progressed carefully and at the right pace.
What tends to make it worse: prolonged sitting with legs crossed, direct pressure on the outer hip, sudden increases in walking or running volume, and hill walking or stair climbing in the early stages of tendon irritation.
When to seek professional help: you're welcome to book in as soon as you want to — you don't need to have been in pain for a specific amount of time before coming to see us. If your hip pain has been present for more than two to three weeks, is affecting your walking or daily activities, or keeps returning, an accurate diagnosis is the essential first step — particularly because hip, back and referred pain can overlap significantly and require very different approaches.
Conditions We Treat
Hip Flexor Strain & Tightness
Tight, overworked hip flexors are extremely common in people who sit for long periods and in runners and gym-goers. They can cause hip pain, lower back pain and affect the way you move. Manual therapy and targeted stretching and strengthening are highly effective.
Gluteal Tendinopathy
Irritation of the tendons that attach the gluteal muscles to the outer hip is one of the most common causes of lateral hip pain, particularly in women over 40 and in runners. It is a load-related tendon problem that responds very well to the right progressive exercise approach.
Hip Bursitis
The bursa around the hip can become inflamed through direct pressure, friction or overload. It often presents alongside tendinopathy and is best managed through a combination of load management, manual therapy and exercise.
Hip Impingement (FAI)
Femoroacetabular impingement occurs when bony changes at the hip cause the joint to pinch during certain movements. It is common in active individuals and those with a history of high-volume sport. We assess, manage and guide you on whether further investigation is warranted.
Referred Pain from the Lower Back
The lower back and pelvis refer pain into the hip and buttock very commonly. Distinguishing between a hip problem and a referred problem from the spine is one of the most important parts of our assessment — because treating the wrong area won't get results.
How We Treat It
Hip pain treatment at KS Sports Therapy starts with a clear diagnosis. From there we build a plan that typically combines hands-on treatment including sports massage and joint mobilisation, dry needling to address muscle tension and trigger points in the glutes and hip flexors, and a progressive strengthening programme to build the stability the hip needs. We pay close attention to loading patterns — in training, at work and in daily life — to ensure recovery is durable. Treatment may include Sports Massage, Dry Needling, Corrective Exercise, Injury Rehabilitation.
For patients preparing for or recovering from hip surgery — including hip replacement, hip arthroscopy or FAI correction — we offer both pre and post operative rehabilitation. In our experience, pre-operative strengthening can significantly improve surgical outcomes, and structured post-operative rehab is one of the most important factors in how well and how quickly patients recover full function.
What to Expect
Your first session will include a thorough assessment of the hip, lower back and pelvis, looking at movement, strength and joint mobility. We'll identify what's driving your pain and share our findings clearly before agreeing a plan together. Most patients with hip pain see meaningful progress within four to six sessions, though some conditions — particularly tendinopathies — require a longer rehabilitation process that we'll guide you through every step of the way.
Ready to Get Started?
Book your appointment today or explore all the conditions we treat.