Hip and groin pain physiotherapy in Edmonton

Where the pain sits — groin, outer hip or buttock — tells you a great deal about what it is.

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What does physiotherapy do for hip pain?

Hip pain is one of the areas where location does most of the diagnostic work. Deep groin pain usually points at the joint itself; pain over the bony point on the outside is almost always tendon rather than joint; buttock pain frequently comes from the back rather than the hip at all. Assessment sorts that out first, and the treatment differs considerably between them.

Hip And Groin Pain Assessment And Treatment At Vertex Physiotherapy

What we see most

Three distinct problems that get grouped together as hip pain, plus the one that is often not the hip.

What the location tells you

Hip osteoarthritis typically produces groin pain with stiffness that is worst first thing and eases as you move, and it responds well to loading despite what people expect.

  • Deep in the groin, often cupped between thumb and forefinger — the joint itself
  • Over the bony point on the outside, painful to lie on — the gluteal tendons
  • Inner thigh, painful squeezing the knees together — the adductors
  • Buttock, sometimes travelling down the leg — frequently the lumbar spine
  • Front of the hip on resisted lifting — the hip flexors

What has to be ruled out

A small number of hip presentations need medical assessment rather than physiotherapy first:

  • Groin pain with night pain and a limp, particularly in a runner or someone with low energy availability — a femoral neck stress fracture needs excluding urgently
  • Inability to weight-bear after a fall, particularly in an older adult
  • Fever with a hot, painful hip
  • Hip pain in a child or adolescent, where conditions specific to growing bones need excluding
  • A lump in the groin that changes with coughing

What treatment usually involves

Load management first, and for lateral hip pain that means something specific and slightly counter-intuitive: removing the positions that compress the tendon against the bone, which includes several of the stretches people are commonly given.

Then progressive strengthening through the hip and trunk, built toward single-leg control, because most hip problems show up when the body is on one leg.

Hands-on treatment and, for persistent tendon problems, shockwave, are used alongside the loading rather than instead of it.

Questions people ask

It might be, and it is worth knowing that hip osteoarthritis responds well to strengthening and activity. Arthritis on an X-ray is also common in people without symptoms, so the finding alone does not settle it.

Generally no, at least not the stretches that bring the knee across the body — those compress the tendon. This is one of the conditions where the usual instinct works against you.

Rarely as a first step. It becomes relevant where a stress fracture is suspected, where the joint itself is in question, or where a surgical decision is being made.

Not necessarily. Gluteal tendinopathy, hip impingement and referred pain from the back are all common at that age and each is treated differently. Where the pain sits, groin versus outer hip versus buttock, is the first clue, and the assessment sorts out which it is.

No. Bring any imaging you already have, but the assessment does not depend on it. If findings suggest an X-ray or MRI would change the plan, you will be told and it will be arranged through your physician.

Usually within the week. Call (825) 525-2852 and say what you are dealing with. If it is a car accident or workplace injury, mention that too so the funding is set up before the first visit.

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Vertex Physiotherapy is at 6958 76 Ave NW #205, Edmonton, AB T6B 2R2. Call (825) 525-2852 or book online.

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Written by Vertex Physiotherapy · Reviewed by Bipin Pokhrel, Provisional Physiotherapist · Last updated September 2026