People who have experienced trauma, especially in childhood, are more likely to have chronic pain<\/a> and tend to be more sensitive to pain in lab tests. But again, there\u2019s no evidence this is more true for the hips.<\/p>\n What else can cause hip discomfort?<\/p>\n Unpleasant sensations in the joint can arise from anatomical issues. For example, people with very shallow<\/a> or very deep<\/a> hip sockets tend to have more pain, says Abby Cheng, a sports medicine doctor who specializes in hip disorders at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis.<\/p>\n Another anatomical cause is irritation in the tendons or their fluid-filled cushions on the outside the hip, called tendinitis or bursitis. It\u2019s especially common in middle-aged and older women<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other causes are harder to pinpoint. Cheng and other clinicians believe that hip and back pain can be caused by muscles in the front of the hip that are shortened by sitting, as well as other imbalances in muscle strength and length. Having said that, studies haven\u2019t conclusively linked short hip muscles to pain, and many other factors that accompany a sedentary lifestyle may contribute to hip discomfort in desk workers, says Lehman.<\/p>\n Man with hip, back, spine and sciatica pain at home. Photograph: m-gucci\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Overall health may factor into hip discomfort. An anatomical problem can \u201cnudge up your chance of having pain\u201d, says Lehman, but stress, poor sleep, inactivity and anxiety often tip it over.<\/p>\n Furthermore, how tight your muscles feel doesn\u2019t<\/a> reliably<\/a> predict how tight they actually are. Lehman sees it in the clinic: dancers complain of tight hamstrings, \u201cand their foot is behind their head\u201d.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Well Actually<\/p>\n Practical advice, expert insights and answers to your questions about how to live a good life<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n What can you do about tight hips?<\/p>\n Start by moving more. If walking, gentle stretching and other exercise eases the tightness; it\u2019s probably muscular and nothing dangerous, says Cheng. In these situations, she says, \u201cmotion is lotion\u201d.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t stretch too aggressively, though. It\u2019s possible to stretch too much, says Cheng, and going beyond the gentle range can hurt more than it helps, especially if your hip discomfort is related to hip socket depth. In that scenario, she says, \u201cyou\u2019re really just banging two bones into each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Get regular aerobic exercise, and strength-train at least twice a week. For people with hip discomfort, Cheng focuses on glute-strengthening moves like clamshells and \u201cmonster walks\u201d. These may help by increasing your hips\u2019 ability to tolerate use, and they may also help you age better: in older adults, strength training increases bone density in the hip<\/a>, which lowers the risk of a dangerous hip fracture.<\/p>\n Take steps to improve your health more broadly, which Lehman says can reduce your sensitivity to pain. Anything that makes you healthier helps, including meaningful activities<\/a> and time with friends<\/a>, he says.<\/p>\n When should you see a clinician?<\/p>\n Get help if hip tightness doesn\u2019t improve with more movement or gets worse the more you move, says Cheng. Look for a clinician who examines your whole body and asks about your stress and sleep.<\/p>\n X-rays and MRIs can occasionally clarify the cause of your symptoms, but both experts said imaging typically doesn\u2019t indicate where you hurt or point to the source of your discomfort. Structure is \u201cnot irrelevant, but it\u2019s not destiny\u201d, says Lehman.<\/p>\n If discomfort lingers despite your best efforts, try to make peace with it. \u201cIt\u2019s OK to look for a fix, but sometimes accepting some pain is easier,\u201d says Lehman. \u201cAnd then the irony is, it helps.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In yoga classes, on TikTok and throughout other wellness spaces, you\u2019ve probably heard the saying: your hips hold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[565,134,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-627547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791743410_797_500.jpg\")
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