The four worst pieces of advice I see in people with pain on the outside of their hip

4. “This is age, and this is what you should expect.”

Age-related changes do not have to be painful.

Imaging can look utterly awful, and a person can still have extraordinary function and strength.

Aging is not, in and of itself, painful. Even the loss of cartilage is not painful — there are no nerve endings in cartilage. The associated pain is often related to an inflammatory process affecting other tissues.

There are many examples of people with significant changes on imaging who have no pain, and people with significant pain who have no major imaging changes.

Imaging does not tell me what you can do.

Imaging does not show me your pain.

Aging is a change in the capacity of tissues and a change in physiology.

Aging is not painful.

Pain is an output of the brain. It can be influenced by our tissues and inflammation, but it is not only caused by the tissues, and it is not only created by the brain.

Nobody is making up their pain.

Age is not painful in and of itself, and telling someone that their pain is simply because they are getting older removes the possibility that things can improve.

It doesn't acknowledge the actual process of aging, and it can lead people to believe there is nothing they can do and not seek help.

We cannot always trust all of the information we are given.

Instead, we need to listen to our bodies, look at our function, and work towards improving what we can do.

For many people with pain on the outside of the hip, progressive loading is an important part of the answer.

Here's what I saw with a client this week.

A client came to me with imaging that showed moderate to significant changes in the joint — osteoarthritis.

This is what she understood was happening, and why she told me she was sore.

I assessed her.

Her hip joint, while a little stiff, was in excellent condition and she had amazing range of movement (and I told her so).

On the other hand, her strength was poor, and she had significant pain with muscle contractions and on palpation.

My diagnosis?

Not age-related changes, but an overload of the tendon beyond its capacity to keep up with healing.

After her first session, her pain had decreased. She walked out with significantly less pain — and some hope.

The plan will take two years to complete, but we will make changes along the way, and we expect to see meaningful changes much sooner.

And this is exactly why I created Manage Your Grumpy Hip.

Because if you've been told that your hip pain is simply “your age”, that your imaging is the problem, or that this is just something you'll have to learn to live with, I want you to have better information.

You need to know what might actually be contributing to your pain, what you can change, and what you can do to start building your hip's capacity again.

I'm putting together a practical, evidence-informed resource to help you understand your grumpy hip and what you can actually do about it.

It's being released very soon.

Click this link to join the priority list and be one of the first people to find out when Manage Your Grumpy Hip is available.