You have indicated that you have buttock or hip pain

Below are some specific descriptions of symptoms related to a running buttock or hip injury, or buttock or hip pain.

Decide which description most closely matches the buttock or hip problem you are experiencing then click on
the button next to it. You will be presented with a likely diagnosis for your buttock or hip injury and advice as to
what to do.

You can diagnose other running injuries here.

  • Step 1
  • Step 2
  • Step 3 - current step
  • Step 4

Click on the description that most closely matches your symptoms:

Symptom 1

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  • A dull pain over a wider area of the back during running (more of a general ache than a specific pain).
  • Tiredness and stiffness in the lower back which gets worse during the day especially if you are standing for a long period of time.
  • Pain and a feeling of strain in the lower back after lifting heavy things.

Symptom 2

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  • A slow insidious onset of low back pain, normally on one side more than the other.
  • There is normally no leg pain, nor any numbness or tingling, but there may be buttock pain.
  • The most painful movements are bending backwards and bending to one side.
  • Turning over in bed may be a bit difficult.
  • Running worsens the pain, although may not stop you from running.

Symptom 3

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  • A sudden onset of disabling low back pain, normally on one side more than the other.
  • Often the muscle spasm pulls you over to one side, so you look crooked in the mirror.
  • It normally doesn’t happen whilst running, with a popular scenario being – “I just bent over to tie my shoe laces and my back went and I couldn’t move”.
  • There is normally no leg pain, nor any numbness or tingling, but there may be buttock pain.
  • The most painful movements are bending backwards and bending to one side.
  • Turning over in bed is difficult.
  • Pain may be worse in the morning, getting a little better as the day progresses, although this is not always the case.

Symptom 4

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  • Pain located either to the left or right of your lower back, over one of the two ‘knobbly’ bones at the base of your spine about two inches either side of the spine.
  • The pain can range from a dull ache to a sharp pain which can restrict movement and prevent you from running.
  • The pain may radiate out into your buttocks and low back and may also radiate to the front into the groin.
  • Occasionally it is responsible for pain in the testicles in men.
  • Occasionally there may be referred pain into the lower limbs which can be mistaken for sciatica, but tends to be more to the outside of the thigh and ankle bone rather than down the back of the thigh as in sciatica.
  • Difficulty turning over in bed, struggling to put on shoes and socks and pain getting your legs in and out of the car.
  • Stiffness in the lower back when getting up after sitting for long periods and when getting up from bed in the morning.
  • Aching to one side of your lower back when driving long distances.

Symptom 5

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  • Pain and tenderness on and over one of your sitting bones.
  • Pain when stretching the hamstring.
  • Pain when contracting your hamstring against resistance, such as when sitting on a chair and digging your heel into the floor.
  • This injury is quite common following a sprinting session.
  • It can come on slowly or quickly, and must be treated before it is allowed to become chronic (and very difficult to treat).

Symptom 6

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  • Normally (but not exclusively) a sudden onset of pain on the side of your waist, on the edge of the  bone that forms your waist.
  • You may find it difficult to walk properly and almost certainly find it difficult to run.
  • You may feel swelling in the area.
  • There is a specific area on the edge of the bone that is very tender.
  • Standing on one leg may produce pain, and it is likely that hopping on the affected leg will feel painful.

Symptom 7

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  • Pain in the buttock.
  • Tenderness in the muscles of the buttock, normally at one or two specific points, although the muscle can be so tense that these specific points may not be felt.
  • Tightness, or muscular spasm in the hip and buttocks when running.
  • Whilst running, walking or using stairs the leg may feel as if it could buckle, or just feel weak).
  • Stretching the buttock will be painful.
  • You may feel referred pain into one or two points in the leg or even the lower back, especially whilst pressing the tender points in the buttock.
  • Trigger points tend to refer to one or two specific places rather than all the way down the leg like in piriformis syndrome.
  • You may get a twitching in the buttock.

Symptom 8

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  • Pain in the buttock.
  • Tenderness in the buttock about halfway between the hip and the tailbone.
  • Sometimes pain and/or tingling down the back of the thigh and calf, often worsened by pressing the tender point in the piriformis muscle.
  • Tightness and/or cramp in the hip and buttocks when running.
  • Pain when stretching the piriformis (e.g. lying on your back, bringing your knee on the affected side up and across towards your opposite shoulder).
  • Pain is often worse when running, or after running, and sitting for long periods, or climbing stairs.

Symptom 9

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  • Deep aching pain in the groin, buttock, front of the hip or the outside of the hip (that cannot necessarily be pinpointed), especially with movement.
  • Stiffness in the hip, particularly in the morning, which decreases as you start to move around and warm up.
  • Doing a squat may be painful or stiff, and you may not be able to get all the way down.
  • You may occasionally get a sharp ‘catching’ pain on certain movements.
  • Symptoms tend to develop slowly over time.
  • The hip does not show a full range of movement, and may be painful at the end of your movement range.
  • You may have noticed that you are starting to limp, and favour the other leg.