Painful, Tight Muscle at the Side of Your Hip? When Your Hip Muscle Spasms and Walking Hurts
Put your hands on your hips, just like the man in the photo. Under your fingers, at the top and side of your buttock, is a muscle that works with every single step you take. When it gets tight and goes into spasm, you feel it right there: a deep ache or sharp catch that makes walking, climbing stairs or getting out of a car hard work. Some people even start to limp.
Meet the muscle
This muscle is called the gluteus medius, or glute medius. It sits on the side of your hip and keeps your pelvis level every time you stand on one leg, which happens with every step. It's a small muscle doing a big job.
Why it becomes painful and goes into spasm
- Long hours of sitting at a desk or in traffic, which weakens it
- Suddenly doing more, such as a new gym routine, a long hike or running
- Standing with your weight on one leg, or carrying a baby on one hip
- Low back pain, which makes the hip muscles tense up to protect you
A weak muscle that's overworked gets tired, tight and sore. Hard, painful knots form, and the muscle can grab or spasm when you move.
Signs it's your hip muscle
- Pain at the top and side of the buttock, where your hands rest on your hips
- A tender, hard spot you can feel when you press
- Pain or a catch when walking, on stairs or standing on one leg
- Limping or feeling unsteady after walking for a while
- Stiffness after sitting, then pain when you start moving
How we treat it at Katasi Physiotherapy, Westlands
We find exactly which part of the muscle is tight and why it's overworking. Dry needling and hands-on release ease the painful knots and calm the spasm, often giving relief in the first session. Then we give you simple exercises to strengthen the muscle so it can do its job without tightening up again. If your back is part of the problem, we treat that too.
If the pain is on the outside of your hip when you squat, read Pain on the Outside of Your Hip When You Squat?. If it runs down your leg, read Sciatica: When Pain Runs From Your Back Down Your Leg.
See a doctor first if
The pain started after a fall, you can't put weight on your leg, you have a fever, or your leg feels numb or weak.
Book in Westlands
Don't keep walking through hip pain. Visit Katasi Physiotherapy at Kerai Office, Mogotio Road off Muthithi Road, Westlands, Nairobi. Call or WhatsApp 0705 717 353 to book. We're open Monday to Friday, 7am–6pm, and Saturday, 8am–4pm.