Hip Pain: Causes, Treatment and When to See a Specialist

You've noticed it getting out of your car, or on the last flight of stairs before your flat. Maybe it's your own hip, catching after a run you didn't think was hard enough to cause this. Maybe it's your mother's, the slight hesitation before she takes the handrail she never used to need.

Either way, the pain itself is rarely the confusing part. What stalls most people is what comes next. Whether it needs a doctor at all, and if it does, which kind.

How early hip pain tends to feel

Hip problems rarely announce themselves with sharp pain. They start as small, easy-to-dismiss changes: a catching sensation when standing up from a low sofa, stiffness that eases within minutes then returns by mid-afternoon, a slight limp you only notice on video calls. Some people find they're gripping the handrail on stairs they used to take without thinking, or twisting awkwardly to put on socks.

Groin discomfort catches people off guard the most. Most assume hip pain has to sit on the outer hip, so pain at the front, near the groin, often gets written off as something else entirely.

None of these signs is alarming on its own. Together, over a few weeks, they're worth paying attention to.

What causes hip pain?

The causes split roughly along age lines, though not as cleanly as most people assume.

Adults aged 20 to 50

In adults aged 20 to 50, high‑impact fitness routines are a growing reason for hip pain in Singapore. A report in The Straits Times highlighted more younger working adults seeking help for groin or outer-hip discomfort brought on by repetitive training, high‑impact sports, or sudden changes in activity.

Two conditions show up repeatedly in this group, labral tears and femoroacetabular impingement, or FAI, a mismatch in how the hip bones fit together that gets aggravated by repetitive high-impact movement.

Desk-based professionals

For desk-based professionals, the cause is less dramatic but just as real. Prolonged sitting tightens the hip flexors, the muscles running from the front of the hip to the thigh, and eight-plus hours in a chair with minimal movement between meetings doesn't cause structural damage on its own, but it aggravates existing joint issues and creates stiffness that later gets mistaken for arthritis.

Older adults

In older adults, the picture shifts toward degenerative wear: osteoarthritis, thinning cartilage, weakening muscles around the joint. Falls become a bigger factor too, particularly for parents living alone in walk-up flats.

A few other causes worth naming plainly.

• Bursitis is inflammation in the small fluid-filled sacs that cushion the joint.
• Tendinitis comes from overuse of the muscles crossing the hip.
• Pain from the lower back can radiate into the hip and feel identical to a joint problem, even though it starts in the spine.
• Previous injury, including old sports injuries that resurface years later.
• Avascular necrosis, where blood supply to the hip bone is disrupted, is rare but serious.

What can cause hip pain in a woman?

Women face a few causes that don't apply as often to men. Hormonal shifts during menopause reduce bone density, which raises the risk of both hip osteoarthritis and stress-related bone injury.

Pregnancy loosens the ligaments around the pelvis to prepare for childbirth, which can leave the hip joint less stable for months afterward.

A wider pelvis also changes the angle at which the thigh bone meets the hip socket, which some research links to a higher rate of certain impingement patterns.

None of this means every ache has a hormonal cause, but it is worth mentioning to a doctor if the timing lines up with a hormonal change.

Symptoms of hip pain

Symptoms vary by cause, but the following patterns are worth naming clearly:

• Groin pain that worsens with movement, particularly rotating the hip inward.
• Pain radiating to the outer thigh or buttock, sometimes mistaken for sciatica.
• A locking or clicking sensation during walking.
• Reduced range of motion, noticeable when putting on shoes or getting into a car.
• Pain that worsens after activity, rather than during it, which is common with tendinitis.
• Night pain, particularly when lying on the affected side.
• Swelling or warmth around the joint, which can signal inflammation or, rarely, infection.

Where it hurts, and what that usually means

Pain location narrows things down more than most people expect.

Front-of-hip and groin pain usually points to the joint itself, things like impingement or early arthritis. Side hip pain, whether it's your left hip or your right, more often points to bursitis or a tendon issue rather than the joint, and which side it's on doesn't usually change the underlying cause, just which hip is affected.

Pain toward the back, spreading into the buttock, deserves a closer look at the lower back before assuming it's the hip at all.

Where hip flexor pain is felt

Hip flexor pain sits at the crease where your thigh meets your pelvis, right at the front of the hip. It often gets sharper when lifting the knee toward the chest, climbing stairs, or getting out of a low car seat, and can radiate slightly down into the top of the thigh. This is different from deep joint pain, which tends to sit further back and feels more like an ache than a pull.

A clicking or catching sensation during walking is common and, on its own, isn't usually a red flag. Combined with pain, though, it's worth mentioning to a doctor, since it can point to a labral tear.

Speak with our Care Team today to be matched with an orthopaedic specialist who can assess your condition, explain your options, and help you plan the next steps in your treatment.

How hip pain is diagnosed

Diagnosis usually starts with a physical exam: how you walk, your range of motion, and where exactly the pain sits as the hip moves through different positions.

From there, imaging depends on what the exam suggests.

• X-rays check for arthritis, bone spurs, or narrowing of the joint space.
• MRI scans show soft tissue detail that X-rays miss, including labral tears and early cartilage damage.
• Ultrasound sometimes helps assess bursitis or tendon inflammation, and can guide an injection if one's needed.
• Blood tests come into play occasionally, if an inflammatory or infective cause is suspected.

This is usually where people get stuck. A normal-looking X-ray doesn't rule out a labral tear or early impingement, both of which need an MRI read by someone experienced in hip imaging specifically.

Here's the part most referral pathways don't handle well: a GP without a hip-specific contact often defaults to a general orthopaedic referral rather than a hip sub-specialist, which for a suspected labral tear or FAI can mean starting the diagnostic process over with the right doctor months later.

Does hip pain get worse if you leave it?

Often, yes, particularly when the underlying cause is structural rather than muscular. Left unaddressed, minor cartilage damage or impingement can progress toward earlier-onset osteoarthritis.

Compensating for hip pain also changes how you walk, which puts abnormal strain on the knees and lower back. Some patients who eventually need hip treatment spend months first treating knee or back pain that turns out to have started at the hip.

That's not a reason to panic. Most hip conditions, caught early, respond well to conservative treatment. It's a reason not to let six months pass on the assumption it'll sort itself out.

Hip pain treatment

Treatment depends entirely on the underlying cause, how long symptoms have persisted, and how much they're affecting daily function.

Conservative management & home remedies

For many patients, especially in early stages, non-surgical approaches are the first line of treatment:

• Rest and activity modification, reducing high-impact movement without stopping activity altogether.
• Physiotherapy, focused on strengthening the muscles that support the hip joint.
• Ice application, for acute flare-ups, typically 15 to 20 minutes at a time.
• Weight management, where relevant, to reduce joint load.
• Assistive devices, such as a cane, for older adults navigating stairs or uneven ground.
• Ergonomic adjustments, including standing desks or scheduled movement breaks for CBD office workers.

Medications for hip pain

• Over-the-counter pain relief, such as paracetamol, for mild discomfort.
• NSAIDs, to manage inflammation, used short-term and under guidance given potential side effects.
• Corticosteroid injections, for targeted relief in cases of bursitis or significant inflammation, administered by a specialist.

Medication decisions should sit with the treating doctor. What works for tendinitis often doesn't touch the pain from a labral tear, and using the wrong approach for months delays proper treatment.

Surgical interventions

Hip surgery is considered when conservative treatment hasn't resolved symptoms, or when structural damage is significant enough that delaying treatment risks further joint deterioration.

• Hip arthroscopy, a minimally invasive procedure to repair labral tears or address impingement.
• Hip resurfacing, an option for some younger, active patients with joint damage.
• Hip replacement surgery, specifically total hip replacement, typically reserved for advanced osteoarthritis where the joint is significantly worn.

Recovery timelines vary by procedure and by patient. A specialist consultation is the only reliable way to understand what applies to your specific situation, not a general timeline pulled from someone else's recovery.

Everyday ways to reduce strain on your hips

• Take the lift when carrying groceries up HDB stairs, and split heavy loads into two trips instead of one.
• Set a movement reminder every 45 minutes at a desk job, even a short walk to the pantry counts.
• Warm up properly before weekend sport rather than jumping straight into intensity. 
• Increase running distance gradually, by no more than 10% a week.
• A firm, supportive mattress helps side sleepers who put pressure on one hip overnight.
• Supportive footwear matters more than people think, especially on a longer walk to the MRT.
• Strengthening the glutes and core takes load off the hip joint itself, since weak supporting muscles shift more of the work onto it.

When to see a hip specialist in Singapore

See a doctor if hip pain lasts longer than two weeks without improvement, or if it's affecting how you walk, sleep, or manage daily tasks. A few signs point to a more urgent review:

• Sudden, severe pain following a fall or injury
• Inability to bear weight on the affected leg
• Visible deformity of the hip or leg
• Fever alongside hip pain, which can indicate infection
• Significant swelling that develops quickly

For everyone else, the harder question usually isn't whether to see someone, it's who, and a general search for a hip pain doctor or a hip pain clinic in Singapore won't answer that on its own. A younger patient with a suspected sports-related labral tear generally needs a different specialist than an older parent with suspected osteoarthritis, and the referral pathway rarely makes that distinction clear from the start.

If you're not sure which type of specialist actually treats what you're describing, HiA's care team can talk it through with you over WhatsApp, free, usually in about 15 minutes.

It's a navigation conversation, not a diagnosis, you describe what's going on and what's already been tried, and the team helps you understand whether a sports orthopaedic surgeon, a joint specialist, or physiotherapy first is the more sensible starting point, along with a realistic sense of what it might cost against an Integrated Shield Plan or rider before booking anything.