Most people will experience some form of low back pain at some point in their lives. The causes of pain in the lower back are numerous. The underlying cause could be a pinched nerve in the spine, or a herniated disc. In this article we are going to focus on an underlying cause of back pain that is often overlooked – your hips.

Hips & Back Pain

It is usually not the first thing people thing of when they have back pain, but the reality is that your hips can greatly impact the structures of your lower back. It can be difficult to pinpoint whether back pain is coming from your hips or the spine, simply because the hips share a lot of real estate with the base of the spine (they are connected via the Sacroiliac Joint).

Ordinary wear and tear on the hips, or having unbalanced (or tilted) hips, can lead to pain in the low back and legs. Telling the difference between hip and spine pain can be accomplished by identifying symptoms. Usually hip-related pain is worse while standing and walking, while spine pain generally gets better with activity and worst with rest. Spine pain is usually sharp and can shoot down the legs, while hip pain is marked more by stiffness and constant, dull pain.

How to Fix Hip-Related Pain 

The primary step in treating any type of back pain is to identify what is causing the pain. Using a combination of medical history, physical examination, and imaging tests, a doctor will be able to narrow down the specific cause of your low back pain. Diagnosis is essential because treating pain from a herniated disc is much different that the treatment options for hip-related back pain.

Most lower back pain that stems from the hips can be treated non-surgically with physical therapy exercises, chiropractic techniques, pain medications, and possibly pain relief injections.

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