Hip pain can interfere with everything from walking and climbing stairs to sitting comfortably at your desk or getting a good night’s sleep. Left untreated, it can cause long-term mobility issues and even affect other parts of the body such as the lower back or knees, as your body tries to compensate. With hip replacements on the rise in the UK, early intervention and proper management are more important than ever.

I recently saw a patient who had been struggling with hip pain for almost a year. At first, they thought it was “just tight muscles” from running. Over time, it became harder for them to sleep on their side and even walking short distances became uncomfortable. They had tried rest and over-the-counter painkillers but saw no real improvement.  These are all common and typical stories we see in clinic each day.

When they came to physiotherapy, we carried out a full assessment and identified that their pain was being caused by a combination of muscle imbalance around the hip and early signs of hip impingement. Instead of offering a single solution, we tailored their treatment to their specific needs:

• Manual therapy to release tight muscles.

• A strengthening programme to stabilise the hip joint.

• Education on activity modification to reduce flare-ups.

This combination allowed the patient not only to get out of pain but also to return safely to their running routine.

After 10 weeks of structured rehab, the patient was able to run 10km again without hip pain, and they reported better flexibility and strength than before their symptoms started. They now have a long-term plan to prevent recurrence, rather than simply masking symptoms.

By week six, the patient reported significantly less pain and could return to daily activities without restriction. The massage had helped them cope in the early stages, while physiotherapy delivered the lasting improvements by addressing the underlying dysfunction.

Research supports this approach. For example, studies show that exercise-based physiotherapy can significantly reduce pain and improve function in conditions such as hip osteoarthritis (Fransen et al, 2014). Likewise, structured rehab programmes are often more effective in the long-term than injections or short-term pain relief alone.

Hip pain has many possible causes — from arthritis to impingement, muscle strains, or even referred pain from the back. That’s why seeing a physiotherapist is so important: no two cases are the same, and treatment needs to be tailored to the individual. If you are struggling with hip pain, don’t wait for it to get worse. Book an assessment with a physiotherapist who can identify the root cause and build a treatment plan to get you back moving with confidence.