Hip Bursitis

The primary hip bursitis symptoms include:

• Inflammation of the hip joint

• Pain or clicking with walking

• Pain that intensifies when lying on your side

• Sharp pain at the outside point of the hip, sometimes running down the outer thigh

• Stiffness of the hip joint

While hip bursitis is not a life-threatening condition, its symptoms can be similar to a more serious condition like a fractured pelvis. You should seek medical attention for an accurate diagnosis for any hip pain you experience.

Hip bursitis occurs when the bursae become inflamed. Hip bursitis causes include:

• Bone spurs on the greater trochanter that scratch the bursa sac

• Injury, such as a fall, that tears the wall of the bursa

• Leg length inequality, which can cause muscles to rub against the bursa and irritate it

• Overusing the hips, such as by participating in frequent, rigorous exercise that repeatedly compresses the bursae

Underlying medical conditions that cause inflammation throughout the body or in the joints can lead to hip bursitis, too. These conditions include:

• Diabetes

• Gout and pseudogout

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Thyroid disease

Some people with risk factors for hip bursitis may never develop the condition, while other people who have few risk factors might experience chronic bursitis. Risk factors for hip bursitis include:

• Female gender

• Hip injury

• Hip replacement surgery or another condition that causes one leg to be longer than the other

• Middle-aged or older

• Repetitive motion activities that involve the hip such as stair climbing

• Spine conditions like scoliosis that cause alignment issues affecting the hip bursae

• Underlying inflammatory medical conditions

You may be able to lower your risk of hip bursitis by:

• Avoiding activities that involve repetitive hip motion

• Correcting any leg length discrepancies to normalize your gait

• Strengthening core and hip muscles to ensure good posture and avoid putting pressure on the hip bursae

• Treating underlying inflammatory medical conditions

It is nearly impossible to completely protect yourself from hip bursitis. As with any medical condition, if you have any risk factors, discuss with your doctor ways to reduce your chances of developing this painful condition.

The goal of hip bursitis treatment is to minimize pain and restore flexibility to the hip joint. Doctors usually start with conservative treatment approaches and escalate to invasive treatments only if necessary. Hip bursitis treatments ranging from conservative to invasive include:

• Medications including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen to relieve pain

• Physical therapy to stretch the joint and teach hip bursitis exercises to strengthen the hip muscles

• Rest or activity modification to avoid activities that make the pain worse

• Use of assistive devices, such as a walker, to temporarily relieve pressure from the bursa

• Steroid injections to reduce inflammation of the bursa

• Surgery to drain or remove the bursa. Surgery is reserved for only the most intractable cases of hip bursitis.

While painful, hip bursitis is not life threatening. It rarely leads to complications, although it’s possible to develop problems from moving differently, such as limping, to compensate for the pain. Some people may have difficulty sleeping. Treatment for hip bursitis before the pain becomes chronic offers the best chances of recovery. Rarely, you may experience complications from hip bursitis treatment including adverse reactions to medication, such as nausea or internal bleeding from NSAIDs.

Hip bursitis may occur only once, or it may come and go over a lifetime. Fortunately, many cases of bursitis respond well to medications and physical therapy.