Pain on the Outside of Your Hip? It Could Be Gluteal Tendinopathy
Does the outside of your hip hurt when you walk, climb stairs or lie on that side at night?
This is a common pattern of lateral hip pain. One possible cause is gluteal tendinopathy, sometimes included under the broader term greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS).
The condition involves the tendons of the gluteal muscles around the outside of the hip and can make everyday activities surprisingly uncomfortable.
The good news is that lateral hip pain can often be managed conservatively. Understanding what is irritating the area and gradually improving your ability to move and tolerate activity can be an important part of recovery. Current evidence particularly supports education, appropriate load management and progressive exercise for gluteal tendinopathy.
At OsteopathyNearMe in Etobicoke, we assess hip and surrounding musculoskeletal complaints to understand what may be contributing to your symptoms and determine an appropriate approach to care.
What Is Gluteal Tendinopathy?
Your gluteal muscles do much more than move your leg.
The gluteus medius and gluteus minimus help stabilize the pelvis and control the hip during activities such as walking, climbing stairs and standing on one leg.
Their tendons attach around the greater trochanter — the prominent bone on the outside of your upper thigh.
When these tendons become painful and sensitive to load, the condition is commonly described as gluteal tendinopathy.
You may also hear the term greater trochanteric pain syndrome.
Historically, pain in this area was frequently called trochanteric bursitis. However, current understanding recognizes that the gluteal tendons are commonly involved, while the surrounding bursa and other tissues may also contribute.
What Does Gluteal Tendinopathy Feel Like?
A typical symptom is tenderness or pain around the outside of the hip.
You may notice it when:
Lying on the painful side
Walking for longer periods
Going up or down stairs
Standing on one leg
Getting up from a chair
Running or exercising
Standing for prolonged periods
Sleeping at night
Some people also notice discomfort extending down the outside of the thigh.
The pain pattern can vary, which is why an assessment is useful rather than assuming that every pain around the hip has the same cause.
Why Does My Hip Hurt When I Sleep on My Side?
This is one of the most characteristic complaints we hear with lateral hip pain.
When you lie directly on the painful side, the tissues around the greater trochanter are placed under pressure.
Even lying on the opposite side can sometimes be uncomfortable because the upper leg may move across the body and increase compression around the affected hip.
This does not necessarily mean that you are causing additional damage every time the area hurts. It does, however, tell us something about which positions and loads are currently sensitive.
Why Does My Hip Hurt When Walking or Climbing Stairs?
Walking and stair climbing require the muscles on the outside of your hip to help stabilize your pelvis.
When the gluteal tendons are sensitive, increasing the demand on these muscles can provoke symptoms.
This is also why lateral hip pain sometimes appears after a sudden increase in walking, running, hills, gym activity or other physical demands.
The answer is not necessarily to stop moving completely.
A better strategy is often to understand which activities are aggravating the area and gradually rebuild its tolerance.
Is It Hip Bursitis?
Possibly — but bursitis does not describe every case of lateral hip pain.
The bursa is a small fluid-filled structure around the outside of the hip that helps reduce friction between tissues.
It can become irritated, but research has increasingly recognized the importance of the gluteal tendons in persistent lateral hip pain.
For this reason, terms such as gluteal tendinopathy and greater trochanteric pain syndrome are commonly used today.
Can Osteopathy Help With Pain on the Outside of the Hip?
Osteopathic care may help some people manage musculoskeletal hip pain by addressing discomfort, mobility and movement limitations that may accompany the problem.
Assessment may include the hip itself as well as the pelvis and lower back when relevant.
For example, we may look at:
Hip range of motion
Movements that reproduce your symptoms
Pelvic movement and control
Muscle tension around the hip
Lower-back mobility when relevant
Activities that aggravate the problem
Recent changes in walking, running or exercise
Treatment is then adapted to the individual rather than treating every painful hip in exactly the same way.
The aim of osteopathic care is to help reduce discomfort, improve comfortable movement and support your return to normal activity.
When strengthening, rehabilitation or additional medical care is appropriate, osteopathic treatment can also be used alongside those approaches.
What Techniques May an Osteopath Use for Lateral Hip Pain?
The techniques used depend on your examination, level of sensitivity and individual presentation.
An osteopath may use:
Soft tissue techniques around the gluteal muscles, lateral hip and surrounding tissues to help reduce muscular tension and improve comfort.
Myofascial techniques to address areas of soft-tissue restriction around the hip, pelvis and thigh.
Gentle hip joint mobilization using controlled movements to help improve comfortable hip mobility.
Muscle Energy Techniques (MET) in which you gently contract particular muscles against controlled resistance to support mobility and muscular function.
Pelvic and lower-back mobilization when restrictions in these areas appear relevant to your overall movement pattern.
Gentle stretching or positional techniques selected according to how irritable the hip is and which movements are comfortable.
With gluteal tendinopathy specifically, treatment should not simply consist of aggressively pressing or stretching directly over a painful tendon.
Because tendon symptoms are influenced by how the area tolerates load, we also consider which daily activities and positions may currently be aggravating the hip.
Manual treatment can therefore form one part of a broader strategy aimed at making movement more comfortable while the hip gradually builds its capacity again.
What Else Helps Gluteal Tendinopathy?
One of the strongest findings in the current literature is the importance of education and appropriate exercise.
A 2025 systematic review found moderate-strength evidence that exercise combined with education improves pain and function in gluteal tendinopathy, supporting this as a central part of conservative management.
A landmark randomized clinical trial also found that an education-and-exercise approach produced better global improvement than a wait-and-see strategy and performed well compared with corticosteroid injection.
For some persistent cases, healthcare providers may consider other options such as shockwave therapy or injections. Recent systematic reviews suggest these may have a role in selected patients, although the appropriate option depends on the individual presentation.
The important point for patients is that you do not necessarily have to choose between osteopathy and other care.
Manual treatment may help make symptoms and movement more manageable while rehabilitation helps gradually restore the hip’s ability to tolerate activity.
When Should Hip Pain Be Assessed?
Consider an assessment if:
Hip pain repeatedly interferes with walking
You cannot comfortably sleep on one side
Stairs consistently aggravate your symptoms
Pain is limiting exercise or work
The problem keeps returning
Your activity level is progressively decreasing because of the pain
Symptoms are not improving as expected
More urgent medical assessment may be appropriate following significant trauma, inability to bear weight, substantial swelling, fever or illness accompanying hip pain, or severe rapidly worsening symptoms.
Hip Pain Assessment in Etobicoke
If pain on the outside of your hip is affecting your sleep, walking, exercise or everyday activities, you do not necessarily need to simply wait for it to disappear.
At OsteopathyNearMe in Etobicoke, we assess musculoskeletal hip complaints to understand how your symptoms behave and which factors may be contributing.
Osteopathic treatment may help reduce discomfort, improve mobility and make movement easier while you progress through recovery.
And when rehabilitation or additional healthcare is appropriate, osteopathic care can work alongside it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the outside of my hip hurt?
One common cause is gluteal tendinopathy or greater trochanteric pain syndrome. Other hip, lower-back and surrounding musculoskeletal conditions can produce similar symptoms, so persistent pain is worth assessing.
Why does my hip hurt when I lie on my side?
Side-lying places pressure around the outside of the hip. When the gluteal tendons and surrounding tissues are sensitive, this position can become uncomfortable and may even disturb sleep.
Is pain on the outside of the hip bursitis?
It can involve the bursa, but persistent lateral hip pain is frequently associated with the gluteal tendons as well. This is why the broader term greater trochanteric pain syndrome is often used.
Can hip pain travel down the outside of the thigh?
Yes. Lateral hip pain can sometimes extend down the outer thigh. Pain extending further into the leg, particularly when accompanied by numbness, tingling or neurological symptoms, may require consideration of other causes as well.
Should I stop walking if my hip hurts?
Not automatically. Complete rest is not usually the goal for gluteal tendinopathy. Activity may need to be temporarily adjusted depending on symptom irritability, followed by gradual progression as tolerance improves.
Can an osteopath assess lateral hip pain?
Yes. An osteopathic practitioner can assess an appropriate musculoskeletal hip complaint, including hip movement and relevant surrounding regions, and determine whether osteopathic care may be suitable.
What treatments are commonly used for gluteal tendinopathy?
Education about managing aggravating loads and progressive exercise have particularly good support in current research. Depending on the individual case, manual therapy and other treatments may also form part of a broader management approach.
References
Bremer T, Nicklen P, Fearon A, Morrissey D. The efficacy of gluteal tendinopathy treatments: A systematic review.Clinical Rehabilitation. 2025;39(5):600–617. PMID: 40223303. DOI: 10.1177/02692155251327298.
Mellor R, Bennell K, Grimaldi A, et al. Education plus exercise versus corticosteroid injection use versus a wait and see approach on global outcome and pain from gluteal tendinopathy: prospective, single blinded, randomised clinical trial. BMJ. 2018;361:k1662. PMID: 29720374.
Rau OR, Cheng J, Jivanelli B, Tenforde AS, Wyss JF. Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy for Tendinopathies Around the Hip and Pelvis: A Systematic Review. HSS Journal. 2025. PMID: 40292269. DOI: 10.1177/15563316251332189.
Kuhns BD, Becker N, Reyes-Cordova A, et al. Improved Outcomes With Platelet-Rich Plasma for Treating Extra-articular Hip Pathology Especially Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome and Hamstring Injury: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. Arthroscopy. 2026;42(1):310–325. PMID: 41838530. DOI: 10.1002/arj.70024.
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