Hip Pain Treatment
Hip Pain Physical Therapy in Utah Valley
When hip pain won’t go away. The missing link in chronic hip pain is often the pelvic floor and deep core. Get treatment that addresses the root cause—not just the symptoms.
The Pelvic Floor Connection
Why Your Hip Pain Isn’t Getting Better
You’ve tried everything for your hip pain—massage, stretching, mobility work, foam rolling, regular physical therapy. Maybe it helps for a few days, but the pain always comes back.
There’s a reason: the root cause hasn’t been addressed.
Your pelvic floor muscles attach to the inside of the pelvis right next to your hip joint. They share fascial connections with the deep hip rotators, adductors, and gluteals. When the pelvic floor is tight, weak, or poorly coordinated—which is extremely common after pregnancy, surgery, or prolonged sitting—the hip muscles end up doing extra work to compensate. That compensation creates pain.
Dr. Danaya evaluates the whole system—pelvic floor, deep core, hips, and pelvis together—to find what’s actually driving your hip pain. For many women, addressing the pelvic floor component is the missing piece that finally provides lasting relief.
Conditions We Treat
Types of Hip Pain We See
Chronic Hip Pain That Won’t Resolve
Persistent hip pain—front, side, or deep in the joint—that doesn’t improve with stretching or traditional PT. Often connected to pelvic floor tension or deep core instability.
Piriformis Syndrome
Deep buttock pain caused by tightness in the piriformis muscle, which sits right next to the pelvic floor. Can mimic sciatica and often co-exists with pelvic floor dysfunction. Learn about pelvic floor muscle spasm →
Postpartum Hip Pain
Hip pain that started during pregnancy and never fully resolved after delivery. Often involves a combination of pelvic floor coordination issues, alignment changes, and weakened glutes that need targeted rehabilitation.
Learn about postpartum recovery →Pubic Symphysis (SPD) Pain
Pain at the front of the pelvis where the pubic bones meet. Common during pregnancy and postpartum. Can make walking, rolling in bed, or standing on one leg painful.
Learn more about SPD treatment →SI Joint Pain
Pain at the sacroiliac joint where your spine meets your pelvis. Feels like deep aching in one side of your low back or buttock. Common during and after pregnancy due to ligament laxity.
Learn about SI joint pain →Side-Lying Hip Pain at Night
That sharp ache in your hip when you lie on your side—keeping you up at night, making sleep impossible. Often caused by glute medius weakness combined with pelvic floor compensation patterns.
Hip Pain With Single-Leg Movements
Pain or instability when you stand on one leg, go up stairs, or run. A classic sign that your pelvis isn’t stable—your pelvic floor and deep core aren’t doing their job to hold the hip in good alignment under load.
Hip Pain in Active Women & Athletes
Persistent hip pain that limits your training—lifting, running, jumping. Often a coordination and stability problem, not just tight muscles. Learn about return to running →
Not sure where to start? Schedule a Free Consultation →
How PT Helps
A Whole-Body Approach to Lasting Hip Relief
Unlike traditional physical therapy that focuses only on the hip joint, pelvic floor PT addresses the entire system that supports your pelvis and lower body. This whole-body approach is why it often succeeds where other treatments have failed.
Treatment Includes:
- Pelvic Floor Assessment: Evaluating whether your pelvic floor muscles are contributing to your hip pain through tension, weakness, or poor coordination
- Deep Core Rehabilitation: Rebuilding the connection between your pelvic floor, deep abdominals, and diaphragm for true pelvic stability
- Manual Therapy: Hands-on treatment of tight muscles, trigger points, and restricted joints in the hip, pelvis, and adductors
- Hip Mobility & Strength: Targeted work on the glutes, deep hip rotators, and stabilizers—rebuilt in the right sequence
- Alignment Correction: Addressing postural habits and movement patterns that overload the hip joint
- Breathing Strategies: Using your diaphragm properly to support the core and reduce strain on the hip
- Dry Needling: Thin needles target trigger points and tight muscle bands in the hip and glutes to release deep tension and reduce pain. Learn more about dry needling →
- Return-to-Activity Programming: Progressive loading to get you back to lifting, running, or whatever you love—without re-triggering pain
Who This Helps
- Postpartum moms whose hip pain never resolved after pregnancy
- Pregnant women with pelvic girdle or hip pain that’s limiting daily activity
- Active women and athletes with hip pain that’s holding back their training
- Women with desk jobs dealing with chronic sitting-related hip tightness
- Anyone whose chronic hip pain hasn’t improved with other treatments
Common Questions
What You Need to Know
Can pelvic floor PT really help my hip pain?
Yes. Many chronic hip pain cases have a pelvic floor or pelvic girdle component that traditional PT misses. The pelvic floor attaches to the inside of the hip, and tension or weakness there directly affects hip mechanics. Addressing the whole system often resolves hip pain that hasn’t responded to stretching or hip-focused PT.
I’ve had hip pain for years and nothing has helped. Is this different?
Pelvic floor PT looks at the whole system—hips, pelvis, core, and pelvic floor together. Many hip pain cases are driven by pelvic floor dysfunction, SI joint instability, or core weakness that traditional PT doesn’t address.
Is my hip pain related to having babies?
Very possibly. Pregnancy changes your alignment, loosens ligaments, and weakens your deep core and pelvic floor. Many women develop chronic hip pain postpartum that doesn’t resolve without targeted pelvic floor rehabilitation.
How is this different from regular physical therapy?
Regular PT focuses on the hip joint and surrounding muscles. Pelvic floor PT addresses the deep core system—including pelvic floor muscles, diaphragm, and transverse abdominis—that are often the missing piece in chronic hip pain.
How long will treatment take?
Most patients notice improvement within 4-6 sessions. Significant relief typically comes around 8-12 sessions. Chronic, long-standing pain may take longer, but consistency with treatment and home exercises accelerates progress.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Danaya Kauwe, DPT, PRPC, Cert-DN · Last reviewed
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In-home pelvic floor physical therapy throughout Utah Valley