Hip Pain Physiotherapy in Sydney CBD

The hip is the body’s workhorse. When it breaks down, everything from walking to sport to a decent night’s sleep gets harder. The good news: most hip pain has a clear cause — and a clear path to fixing it.

City Physio & Pilates has been assessing and treating hip pain in Sydney CBD since 1978. Whether your hip pain came on suddenly from a sporting incident or has been creeping up over months, our experienced physiotherapists will find what’s actually driving it and build a plan around getting you back to full function.

Why Hip Pain Is Often Mismanaged

The hip doesn’t work in isolation. It sits at the intersection of the lumbar spine, pelvis, and lower limb — which means hip pain can be caused by, or contribute to, problems well beyond the joint itself. Pain that feels like it’s in the hip might be referred from the lower back. Pain that seems to be in the groin might be a labral tear or FAI. What presents as buttock pain could be sciatica, a glute tendinopathy, or deep hip rotator irritation.

Getting this wrong means treating the wrong structure — which is why so many people with hip pain plateau or recur when they’ve only had generic treatment. Accurate diagnosis is the foundation of everything that follows.

Types of Hip Pain We Treat

Hip Bursitis

Inflammation of the trochanteric bursa — the fluid-filled sac on the outer hip — causes a sharp, aching pain on the outside of the hip that’s often worse when lying on that side, climbing stairs, or sitting with legs crossed. Frequently misdiagnosed as a muscle problem and undertreated with rest alone. Effective management targets the underlying load and biomechanical drivers, not just the bursa itself. read more

Femoro-Acetabular Impingement (FAI)

A structural condition where the ball and socket of the hip joint make abnormal contact during movement, causing a pinching sensation deep in the groin or anterior hip — often described as a sharp catch with squatting, sitting for long periods, or hip flexion under load. Common in active people and athletes. Physiotherapy for FAI focuses on movement pattern retraining, hip and core strengthening, and load management to reduce impingement forces and protect the joint long-term. read more

Glute Tendinopathy

Degeneration or irritation of the gluteal tendons at their attachment to the greater trochanter. A common and frequently misdiagnosed cause of lateral hip pain — often confused with bursitis, and often present alongside it. Responds well to a structured, progressive strength training and load management programme. Passive treatment alone rarely resolves it. read more

Hip Labral Tears

The labrum is a ring of fibrocartilage that deepens the hip socket and provides stability. Tears cause deep groin pain, clicking or locking sensations, and pain with end-range hip movement. Often associated with FAI. Physiotherapy focuses on reducing joint loading and improving dynamic stability around the hip, with the goal of either managing conservatively or optimising pre-surgical function where surgery is indicated. read more

Hip Osteoarthritis

Age-related wear of the hip joint cartilage causing progressive stiffness, aching deep in the groin or buttock, and loss of range of motion. Physiotherapy cannot reverse arthritis — but it significantly reduces pain, improves function, and delays or avoids the need for surgical intervention in many cases. Exercise-based management is the most evidence-supported treatment for hip OA. read more

Hamstring and Hip Flexor Injuries

From acute tears sustained during sprinting or sudden eccentric load, to chronic proximal hamstring tendinopathy at the sitting bones — hamstring injuries around the hip require specific management based on the structure involved, the grade of injury, and your functional demands. See our sports injuries page for more on acute muscle injuries, or read more on hamstring and hip flexor injuries here.

Groin Pain

Groin pain around the hip can arise from the hip joint itself, the adductor tendons, the pubic symphysis, the inguinal region, or referred from the lumbar spine. Accurate differentiation between these structures matters enormously for treatment. Read more about groin pain →

Sciatica and Referred Hip Pain

Pain that radiates from the buttock into the leg — particularly if accompanied by tingling, numbness, or weakness — often originates in the lumbar spine rather than the hip joint itself. Our assessment includes full spinal screening to rule this in or out. Deep piriformis irritation causing sciatic-type pain (sometimes called “piriformis syndrome”) is also assessed and treated.

Post-Surgical Hip Rehabilitation

Following hip replacement, labral repair, FAI surgery, or other hip procedures, a structured and progressive rehabilitation programme is essential for full recovery. We have extensive experience with post-surgical rehabilitation protocols across orthopaedic hip procedures and work directly with your surgical team where relevant.

Hip Pain in Pregnancy

Pelvic girdle pain and symphysis pubis dysfunction are common during and after pregnancy, causing significant hip and groin discomfort. Read more on our pregnancy-related pain page.

How We Assess Hip Pain

A thorough hip assessment at City Physio & Pilates goes well beyond asking where it hurts and asking you to do a squat.

Your physiotherapist will assess:

The hip joint itself — range of motion, joint provocation testing, impingement and labral screening
The lumbar spine and pelvis — to rule in or out referred pain and assess lumbopelvic mechanics
The full lower limb — knee, foot, and ankle mechanics that may be loading the hip abnormally
Muscle strength and length — gluteal, hip flexor, adductor, hamstring, and quadriceps assessment
Movement quality — squat mechanics, single-leg loading, gait, and any sport-specific patterns relevant to you
Load history — recent changes in training, activity, occupation, or footwear that may have contributed to onset

This is the kind of systematic, whole-picture assessment that distinguishes a good outcome from a recurring problem.

What Treatment Looks Like

Treatment depends entirely on your diagnosis, but commonly includes:

Manual therapy — joint mobilisation and soft tissue techniques to restore mobility and reduce pain
Dry needling — for muscular contributions including gluteal, piriformis, and TFL involvement
Strength training and exercise prescription — progressive loading programmes targeting the specific deficits identified on assessment
Sports-specific rehabilitation — for athletes returning to training or competition
Clinical Pilates — where movement retraining, pelvic control, or core rehabilitation is indicated
Taping and bracing — for load offloading and proprioceptive support during early rehabilitation
Post-surgical protocols — structured, evidence-based rehabilitation following hip surgery

We also have an on-site Pilates studio — which means when the time is right to transition from manual treatment to movement-based rehabilitation, everything happens under the same roof with the same clinical team.

When to See a Physiotherapist for Hip Pain

Book an assessment if you are experiencing:

Pain in the groin, front of hip, outer hip, or deep buttock
Hip or groin pain that came on suddenly during sport or exercise
A gradual onset of hip stiffness or aching that’s been getting worse
Pain lying on your hip at night or rolling over in bed
A clicking, catching, or locking sensation in the hip
Hip pain that’s limiting your ability to walk, exercise, or do your job
Ongoing hip pain that hasn’t responded to rest or previous treatment

You do not need a GP referral to book a physiotherapy appointment with us.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if my hip pain is the joint or a muscle? It’s often both — and the answer matters for treatment. Joint-source pain typically sits deep in the groin or anterior hip and is reproduced with specific hip movements. Muscle and tendon pain tends to be more localised and load-dependent. Your physiotherapist will differentiate these clearly at your assessment.

Can physiotherapy help hip arthritis? Yes. Exercise-based physiotherapy is the most evidence-supported conservative treatment for hip osteoarthritis. It reduces pain, improves strength and mobility, and can significantly delay or avoid surgical intervention.

My hip clicks — should I be worried? Clicking without pain is usually benign and often just represents tendons flicking over bony prominences. Clicking with pain, locking, or a sensation of something catching is worth having assessed — it can indicate labral involvement or FAI.

Do I need imaging before I come in? No. Bring any existing X-rays or MRI reports if you have them — they’re useful context. But you don’t need imaging before your first appointment, and in many cases a thorough physical assessment tells us more than a scan.

How long will recovery take? It depends entirely on the diagnosis and how long you’ve had the problem. An acute muscle strain might resolve in two to three weeks. FAI or tendinopathy rehabilitation typically takes eight to twelve weeks of structured loading. Hip OA management is ongoing. Your physiotherapist will give you a realistic timeline at your first appointment — not a vague “let’s see how you go.”

Book a Hip Pain Assessment in Sydney CBD

City Physio & Pilates is located at 25 Martin Place, Sydney CBD — steps from Martin Place Metro and Wynyard Station.

If your hip pain is stopping you doing what you want to do, we’ll tell you exactly what’s wrong and what it’s going to take to fix it.

Book online →

Common hip injuries we treat include:

Groin injuries or Groin Pain
Bursitis
Hamstring injuries
Cartilage Tears
Glute tendinitis
Hip Arthritis
Hip Impingement (femoro acetabular impingement- FAI)
Pain with squatting
Post surgical rehab