Experiencing pain along the outside of your hip?

Pain along the outside of the hip is common, particularly in active adults and women in midlife. You may notice pain when walking, climbing stairs, getting up from a chair, exercising, or lying on the affected side at night.

Many people are told they have hip bursitis, but pain in this area isn't always caused by inflammation of the bursa alone. A more complete term is Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome (GTPS), which can involve irritation of the gluteal tendons and other tissues surrounding the outside of the hip.

At Reset Chiropractic & Wellness Center in Bloomingdale, Illinois, Dr. Erin Strauch and the Reset team look beyond the painful area itself. We evaluate the hip, spine, strength, mobility, and movement patterns to identify factors that may be placing excessive stress on the tissues on the outside of the hip.

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What Is Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome?

The greater trochanter is the bony prominence on the outside of your upper thigh bone. Several important muscles and tendons attach around this area, including the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, which help stabilize the pelvis and control the hip when you walk, run, climb stairs, and stand on one leg.

Small fluid-filled sacs called bursae help reduce friction between these tissues.  Pain around the greater trochanter was traditionally called trochanteric bursitis or hip bursitis. We now know that many cases also involve irritation or changes within the gluteal tendons themselves.  Because several structures may contribute to the symptoms, Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome is often a more accurate description.

What Causes Hip Bursitis and GTPS?

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Reduced Hip Mobility

When the hips become stiff, the body compensates elsewhere. This shifts load onto the muscles and tendons along the outside of the hip, increasing stress on already vulnerable tissue.
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Spinal and Pelvic Changes

The hip doesn't work in isolation. Changes in how the spine or pelvis moves can alter how you load your hips during walking, standing, and exercise — contributing to ongoing irritation.
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Deconditioning

A gradual reduction in activity — from work, illness, injury, or lifestyle changes — can reduce the strength and capacity of the gluteal muscles, leaving them underprepared for everyday demands.
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Too Much, Too Soon

Increasing mileage, starting a new program, or adding hills and stairs can expose the hip to more load than it has had time to adapt to. The activity isn't the problem — the tissues just weren't ready yet.
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Compression

Certain positions — lying on the affected side, crossing the legs, or specific movements — compress the gluteal tendons against the greater trochanter. Over time, repeated compression combined with loading contributes to persistent pain.

What Does Hip Bursitis or GTPS Feel Like?

Symptoms commonly include:

  • Pain or tenderness on the outside of the hip
  • Pain when lying on the affected side
  • Hip pain while walking or running
  • Pain going up or down stairs
  • Discomfort after prolonged standing or walking
  • Pain when getting up from a chair
  • Pain with certain exercises or workouts
  • Pain that may travel down the outside of the thigh

Symptoms can gradually develop over time or begin after a change in activity, training volume, walking, running, exercise, or other physical demands.

How We Evaluate Outside Hip Pain

Dr. Strauch's evaluation approach at Reset begins with determining what is contributing to your symptoms.

Your evaluation may include assessment of:

  • Hip range of motion and flexibility
  • Hip and gluteal strength
  • Lumbar spine mobility and posture
  • Pelvic and lower-extremity movement
  • Balance and stability
  • Walking, squatting, or other movements related to your symptoms
  • Activities or positions that reproduce your pain

Pain felt at the hip can also sometimes originate from the lumbar spine or other structures, so determining the likely source of the symptoms is an important part of the examination.

We use a test–treat–retest approach to help determine which findings are meaningful and whether treatment is changing the way you move and feel.

How We Treat Hip Bursitis and GTPS at Reset

Treatment depends on your examination findings and may include a combination of the following.
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Chiropractic and Manual Therapy

When restrictions in the hip, pelvis, or lumbar spine are contributing to the problem, hands-on chiropractic care helps restore mobility and more comfortable movement. Treatment is individualized — not the same protocol applied to every hip.
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Dry Needling

When muscle tension or trigger points around the hip are limiting movement or contributing to pain, dry needling may be used as part of a broader plan. Always combined with mobility work and progressive exercise, not used as a stand-alone.
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Rehabilitation and Exercise

Progressive loading is central to recovery. We work on gluteal strength, hip stability, pelvic control, and balance — gradually building the hip's capacity to handle the activities you want to return to.
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Radial Shockwave Therapy

For persistent tendon-related hip pain, Reset's Mark V OTG shockwave unit — which reaches up to 12 centimeters deep — can be incorporated alongside rehabilitation when clinically appropriate.
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Activity Modification

Complete rest isn't the goal. We help identify what's aggravating the hip and temporarily adjust loads, positions, or movement patterns while gradually rebuilding tolerance. The aim is always return to activity, not avoidance of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not everyone with outside hip pain needs an X-ray or MRI. Your history and physical examination can often provide enough information to begin conservative treatment. Imaging may be appropriate when symptoms don't respond as expected, the diagnosis is unclear, there has been significant trauma, or examination findings suggest another condition.

Often, yes. The goal is usually to find the appropriate amount and type of activity rather than stopping everything. Some activities may need to be temporarily reduced or modified, while others can continue. As symptoms improve, exercise and activity progressively become more challenging. The aim is to return to walking, running, strength training, and everyday life with greater confidence.

Hip bursitis symptoms can overlap with other conditions including IT band syndrome, referred pain from the lumbar spine, hip labral issues, and muscle strains. This is one reason a thorough examination is important before starting treatment — treating the wrong structure rarely helps.

Most patients with GTPS begin to notice improvement within 4 to 8 weeks of consistent treatment, though this varies depending on how long the condition has been present and the underlying contributing factors. Persistent cases that haven't responded to other care may take longer but can still respond well to a comprehensive approach.

Ready to Find Out What's Actually Going On With Your Hip?

Reset Chiropractic & Wellness Center provides evaluation and rehabilitation for hip pain, including hip bursitis and Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome, at our Bloomingdale office. We regularly work with patients from Bloomingdale, Roselle, Medinah, Itasca, and surrounding communities who want to stay active and address the factors contributing to their pain.

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Reset Chiropractic & Wellness Center

148 S Bloomingdale Rd Ste 107,
Bloomingdale, IL
60108

224-653-8094

info@reset-chiropractic.com

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