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Hip & groin

Hip and groin pain

Deep hip ache, restricted rotation, or groin pain on sprinting, kicking and changing direction.

What it typically feels like

  • A deep ache in the front of the hip or groin
  • Pinching at the front of the hip when squatting deep
  • Pain on kicking, sprinting or changing direction
  • Stiffness getting out of a car or off a low chair

The hip is where sitting and sport collide. Hours in a chair shorten the hip flexors and leave the glutes underused; then a sport demands power, rotation and sudden direction changes from a joint that has not moved fully all week.

What usually causes it

  • Sitting, which holds the hip flexors short for hours at a time.
  • Grappling, football and lifting — deep hip flexion, rotation under load, and forceful adduction are all high demand on the groin.
  • Restricted hip rotation, which pushes the load elsewhere. A hip that will not rotate makes the lower back rotate instead, which is why hip problems and back problems so often arrive together.
  • A sudden increase in sprinting or kicking volume.

Groin strains

Common in field and combat sports, and easy to rush back from. The adductors take a lot of load in direction changes, and a partially healed groin strain re-tears readily. Getting back too early is the most common reason this becomes a recurring problem rather than a one-off.

What treatment involves

Assessment to work out whether it is muscular, a restriction in the joint itself, or referred from the lower back — they present similarly and are treated differently.

Then soft tissue work through the hip flexors, adductors and glutes, joint mobilisation to restore rotation, and progressive strengthening. For anyone who sits all day and trains hard, the mobility work has to be regular, not one-off, or the hip is short again within a fortnight.

What is actually in the hip & groin

A deep ball-and-socket joint, built the opposite way round from the shoulder: it trades range for stability, and it is surrounded by some of the largest and strongest muscles in the body.

Hip joint
The head of the femur sitting deep in the socket of the pelvis, with a cartilage rim adding depth. Genuinely stable — which is why true hip joint pain is felt in the groin, not the side.
Iliopsoas
The main hip flexor, running from the lumbar spine and pelvis to the top of the thigh. It shortens with sitting, and because it attaches to the spine it can pull on the lower back as well as the hip.
Gluteus medius and minimus
On the side of the hip, keeping the pelvis level when you stand on one leg — which is every step you take. Weakness here shows up at the knee and the lower back as often as at the hip.
Adductors
The inner thigh group. The usual site of groin strain in sports that involve sprinting, kicking and rapid changes of direction.
Trochanteric bursa
A fluid-filled cushion over the bony point at the side of the hip. When it and the tendons over it are irritated, lying on that side at night becomes the main complaint.

Why it goes wrong

Where it hurts tells you a great deal here. Groin pain suggests the joint itself; pain on the bony point at the side suggests the tendons and bursa over it; deep buttock pain suggests the glutes or the structures beneath them. Sitting for long periods shortens the flexors at the front and switches off the glutes behind, and that combination sits behind a large share of what walks in.

3D anatomy See the structures involved on the interactive model

The honest next step

This page describes what is common, not what you have. The only way to know is to have it assessed — and your first session includes a full assessment, so you leave knowing what is actually going on.

Book an assessment Call 07922 884 788