What We Treat

Hip pain treatment in River Forest.

The pinch in the front of the hip when you climb out of the car. The ache on the side that wakes you when you roll onto it. It’s fixable, and it starts with a cause-first evaluation, not a guess.

Hip impingement Bursitis Groin pain Talk to a Specialist

Sound Familiar?

Does this sound like you?

  • A deep pinch in the front of the hip every time you get out of the car
  • An ache on the outside of the hip that wakes you when you roll onto that side
  • Groin pain that shows up on the first flight of stairs, not the third
  • A click or a catch as you swing your legs out of bed
  • The first ten steps after a long meeting, taken like someone twenty years older
  • Skipping the walk with the dog because the last one cost you the whole evening

Two or more? Keep reading.

Why It Happens

The hip is where you feel it. It’s rarely where it starts.

Hips don’t ache for no reason. And it’s almost never just one thing. It’s usually some mix of four culprits: irritated tendons and bursa on the outside of the hip. A joint that pinches at the front when you bend or rotate into it. Glutes and deep rotators that quietly weakened, so the joint stopped moving the way it was built to. And whatever your back, knee, and foot are handing to that hip every step you take.

None of that shows up on a quick glance. It takes a real, cause-first evaluation to sort out which one is driving your pain, and whether the hip is the cause or just where the complaint lands. That’s why rest, a foam roller, or a generic stretching sheet so often falls short: they answer the symptom, not the source. You’re the one who keeps everybody else moving, the school run, the groceries, the dog. Which is exactly why nobody has looked at your hip yet, and exactly why one honest evaluation changes the whole picture.

Hip strengthening work on the Elevate gym floor

The Honest Truth

Waiting on a hip doesn’t make it wait on you.

If you keep waiting

  • Your stride shortens, and your back and knee take on the load the hip stopped carrying
  • The flare-ups start arriving closer together, and hanging around longer
  • You walk less to protect it, which weakens the exact glutes that hold the joint together

If you start this week

  • You know the actual cause by the end of visit one
  • Hands-on relief starts before you leave the building
  • You get a plan with an endpoint: a real one, not an open tab of visits

Nobody regrets starting early. The waiting is the part that costs you.

How We Fix It

The same four phases. Built for your hip.

Every plan has an endpoint. Here’s what the four phases look like for a hip.

Weeks 1–2

Pain

Calm the pain down.

Hands-on work settles the irritated tendon and takes the edge off the joint, starting your very first visit.

Weeks 2–6

Prime

Get your motion back.

Targeted mobility work gives back the rotation and extension the hip has been quietly guarding.

Weeks 6–10

Perform

Make it strong enough to trust.

Progressive glute, deep rotator, and trunk strengthening builds the control the joint was missing in the first place.

Weeks 10+

Prevent

Return better than before.

Stairs, hills, and single-leg loading get tested for real before you’re cleared to go all-in: that’s the endpoint, not just another appointment.

Sean was a great help during my recovery from a total hip replacement. He identified specific needs and goals for me that drove his recommendations for stretching and strengthening exercises. Just a few appointments really advanced my recovery.

Shared by Joe J. · Hip replacement recovery

Phase one: settle the joint so getting out of the car stops being a plan

Phase four: stairs and hills tested under load, then you’re done

Hip pain All four phases

Related Conditions

Pain rarely stays in one place.

Compensation patterns often show up nearby. Here’s what else we treat.

1

Knee Pain

Taking the stairs one at a time because your knee does not trust the next step.

Learn More 2

Back Pain & Sciatica

The twinge that decides whether today is a good day.

Learn More 3

Joint Replacement Therapy

New joint, and a plan to actually use it.

Learn More

Questions, Answered

What people ask before booking for hip pain.

Usually not, and it’s rarely the first step. A hands-on exam tells us a great deal: which position provokes the pinch, how far the joint rotates, where the tendon loads up. Scans also show wear and tear in plenty of people who have no pain at all, so a picture doesn’t always point at the cause. We start with a cause-first evaluation, and if imaging ever becomes genuinely necessary, we’ll help you get it.

That’s one of the first things we sort out, because a hip and a low back refer pain into each other constantly. Pain in the groin usually points at the joint itself. Pain in the buttock or running down the leg can be coming from the spine. Your evaluation tests both, so the plan treats the structure that’s actually driving your symptoms instead of the one that complains loudest.

That depends on what the evaluation finds, and you won’t be left guessing about it. At your first visit a Doctor of Physical Therapy maps your plan across all four phases, Pain, Prime, Perform, and Prevent, then tells you where you’re starting and what has to happen to finish. You get a plan with an endpoint: you’ll always know which phase you’re in and what’s left, not an open-ended string of appointments.

Book Your Visit

Ready when you are.

Request a time and a real person calls you back. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.

  • Hours Mon–Thu 7am–7pm · Fri 7am–5pm
  • (708) 657-4038 Prefer to talk now? Call us.
  • No referral needed in Illinois

5.0 · 120+ Google reviews

Typical response: under 2 business hours

Step 1 of 5

So we know who to look for when you walk in.

Visit Us

Care this good, this close.

Elevate Physical Therapy and Fitness

Take Me There (opens in a new tab) Call Us