Hip pain treatment in Eindhoven

'Hip pain' can mean three quite different things, and the location is the biggest clue:

• Pain in the groin or deep in the front of the hip, worse with walking, stairs or getting out of the car: the hip joint itself, from irritation to osteoarthritis
• Pain on the outside of the hip, especially lying on that side at night: the gluteal tendons and bursa (greater trochanteric pain)
• Pain in the buttock, sometimes radiating down the leg: often the piriformis muscle or the lower back, not the hip at all
• Stiffness putting on shoes and socks: a classic early sign of hip osteoarthritis
• Sharp groin pain in sporters with kicking and sprinting: adductor-related groin pain

• Hip osteoarthritis: joint ageing that becomes symptomatic, the most common cause above 50
• Overloaded gluteal tendons from a sudden increase in walking, running or hills
• A fall onto the hip: deep bruising or an irritated bursa that lingers
• Weak hip abductors from years of sitting, so tendons work above their capacity
• Referred pain from the lower back, which mimics hip pain remarkably well

Because back and hip overlap so often, we always examine both. Treating a 'hip' that is actually a back, or the other way around, is the most common reason hip pain does not improve.

Gluteal tendon complaints improve with progressive loading over six to twelve weeks; night pain usually settles earlier than the last bit of stiffness. A bruise after a fall calms down within weeks, but pain that does not clearly improve after two to three weeks deserves assessment. Hip osteoarthritis is a long-term companion, but the pain and function are very trainable: our GLA:D participants show measurable improvement after six weeks.

• Keep walking in doses your hip accepts, several shorter walks beat one long one
• For night pain on the side: sleep on the other side with a pillow between your knees
• Avoid crossing your legs and standing with your hip cocked sideways, both compress the irritated tendons
• Take stairs step by step with the strong leg leading up when pain is sharp
• Keep strength training for the buttock muscles, light and controlled, movement is medicine here

The examination distinguishes joint, tendons and back, with strength and mobility tests and, where useful, ultrasound imaging of the tendons and bursa. Your plan can include:

• Progressive tendon loading for gluteal tendon pain, the evidence-based route out of night pain
• The GLA:D programme for hip osteoarthritis: education plus six weeks of supervised strength training with measured results
• Dry needling of overloaded buttock and hip muscles, common in piriformis-type pain
• Manual therapy for the hip joint and lower back
• Rehabilitation after a fall: restoring your walking pattern, strength and confidence

When the picture points to advanced osteoarthritis that may need a specialist, we say so honestly and prepare you well for that route, often with training first, which improves outcomes even if surgery follows later.

• Inability to bear weight after a fall, especially above 60 (a hip fracture must be ruled out)
• A visibly shortened or outward-turned leg after a fall: call emergency care
• Hip pain with fever or feeling seriously unwell
• Groin pain with unexplained weight loss or a history of cancer

These situations need a doctor first. All other hip pain can come directly to us, and we screen carefully in every intake.