Assessment of Lateral Hip Pain

Course overview

The focus of this practical is to dive into the approach and planning when assessing someone who has lateral hip pain. The practical will address a number of components when assessing the lateral hip but primarily will start with introducing the correct flow to assessment to ensure optimal outcomes. We initially will start by ensuring that we are aware of the differentials at play, primarily from the lower back where we discuss ways of ruling this out, whilst discussing other differentials that may mimic hip pain. The focus is then on identifying if there may be an intra articular component to the presentation, such as FAIs or OA, with discussion and assessment on how to rule this possibility out. The direct focus of the assessment of the lateral hip will then be specifically on understanding if there is a compressive or contractile load intolerance of the gluteal medius and minimus tensons, though assessment of the soft tissue structures with palpation, compressive testing, contractile testing and special tests. We also reference the higher performance individual with lateral hip pain and go through endurance functional tests that you can replicate in clinic and help guide your management effectively.