Hip Bursitis? Why It's Usually a Tendon, and What Really Helps

Nov 1

Pain on the outside of your hip, especially when you lie on your side at night, is very common after 40. Doctors often call it greater trochanteric pain syndrome, or gluteal tendinopathy. In plain words: the tendons on the side of your hip are irritated.

Watch the short video first:

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS

• In a trial of 204 adults with side hip pain, education plus exercise beat both a cortisone injection and doing nothing. After 8 weeks the exercise group had the least pain. A year later they still had better overall improvement than the injection group. (Mellor, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018)

• A review of the best trials found education plus exercise should be the core approach for side hip pain. (Bremer, Clinical Rehabilitation, 2025)

• A review of 19 trials with 1,701 people found exercise gave the biggest improvement in pain and function. (Wang, Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research, 2025)

• In a trial of 132 women, everyone improved when they learned to avoid squeezing the hip tendon and to manage their load. (McMillan, American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2021)

• A trial of 60 women found no single exercise style was better than another, so choose movement you can do consistently. (Thomaz de Aquino Nava, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 2025)

• Qigong and Tai Chi reduced pain and disability in chronic low back pain across 8 trials. This research is on the back, not the hip. (Sotiropoulos, Cureus, 2025)

WHAT THIS MEANS IN REAL LIFE

• Gentle, steady movement is the best-supported way to calm side hip pain. Rest alone and one-time fixes are not.

• Learning what irritates the tendon matters as much as the exercise. Common triggers are crossing your legs, standing with your weight hanging on one hip, and sleeping on the painful side without support.

• You don't need a perfect routine. You need one you will actually do.

DR. DAN'S TAKE

Don't live with it.

Side hip pain is one of the most common things people put up with for months, and the research is clear that it responds to the right education and gentle, steady exercise. The longer you wait, the more you build habits that keep the tendon irritated: favoring one side, sleeping on it, bracing when you walk.

In my 25 years of working with bodies, this is what I come back to. The best-supported approach is gentle movement you will actually do, plus learning what to stop doing. That is why I teach Qi Gong. It is slow, whole-body movement with weight shifting from side to side, and it keeps you moving without forcing the sore tendon.

The research on Qigong is strongest for low back pain, not the hip. I'm sharing it because the principles are the same: gentle, consistent, easy on the body. Always check with your doctor first.

TRY IT YOURSELF

Here is a gentle side-to-side practice: shifting your weight, slow rotations, and breathing. As you move, feel how your body moves from your feet all the way up to your head. Go slowly and stay within comfort.