Your hip joints are where the upper leg bones connect to the body. You can have hip pain in one or both hips when you’re sitting. This is because the hip joint bends and supports most of your body weight when you’re sitting.
Where in the hip you feel pain can tell you a lot about why you have hip pain when sitting. Thomas Gehrmann, who has been a licensed chiropractor in Colorado Springs since the fall of 1999 tells you why? He was born and raised on the east coast, but always maintained a strong desire to live in Colorado. He chose to make Colorado Springs his permanent home due to its natural beauty, numerous recreational opportunities, and a healthy community environment, constantly trying to make life better for those who he can help.
Possible Causes of Hip Pain
There are many things that may be contributing to or causing your hip pain. Read on to discover what these causes mean and what you can do about it says Thomas Gehrmann.
1. Poor & Incorrect Posture
A common cause of hip pain while you’re sitting is bad posture or sitting slouched over. It can place more pressure on your hips to sit with bad posture or without the proper back and hip support. When seated, this strain may contribute to hip pain.
2. Crossing your Legs
It can also place more pressure on one or both hips by crossing your legs or bending over to one side while you are sitting. Also unhealthy sleep posture can place too much pressure on your hip, like lying on your side for too long, and cause discomfort when you’re seated.
3. Sitting on an uneven surface
It could make you sit unevenly if your seat cushion, car seat, or sofa is too soft. This means your body could be tilting to one side. Sitting on a soft or rough surface will place more weight and pressure on one of your hips, which can lead to discomfort. This usually happens when you lie down in bed to work on your laptop or watch something. If you are sitting on a pillow on the ground or on a flat, sandy beach, it could also arise.
4. Arthritis
Another common source of hip pain while walking, standing, and sitting is arthritis. Various types of arthritis can cause the hip joint’s protective cartilage covering to wear out. This adds to discomfort while seated, and when you sit, you have to bend your hip joints. When you are sitting, arthritis will lead to painful rubbing and swelling in the hip joint.
5. Bursitis
Bursitis in the bursa, the small fluid-filled sacs that act like shock absorbers in the hip joints, is a form of inflammation (swelling). The hip joints can become a little stiff and sore when they get weakened or swollen. When sitting, bursitis can cause pain in the outer and back hips.
6. Tendinitis
Sitting for far too long can stretch out the tendons in the hips, especially if you have bad posture. This can lead to tendinitis in the hip tendons, or swelling. When sitting, moving, and crouching, tendinitis may produce hip pain.
7. Pinched Nerve
When sitting, a pinched or injured nerve in your lower back may contribute to hip pain. Your back has a sciatic nerve that runs across the buttocks, hips and legs. Sciatica is when you get pinched or hurt by this nerve. When you sit or lay down, it can cause sharp pain or discomfort around the buttocks and hips.
8. Loose or Damaged Hip Joint
When the long leg bone (the femur) doesn’t fit right into the hip joint, femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) occurs. When the cartilage between these bones wears away or is weakened, this could happen. FAI while sitting can lead to sharp or dull hip pain. When you sit down or get up, you may also feel your hip joints “pop” or stiffen a little, says Thomas Gehrmann.
9. Lupus
Lupus is a condition such as rheumatoid arthritis that is autoimmune. It occurs when the immune system is out of control and targets the joints of the body. Lupus can lead to swelling or damage to the hip joints. You might feel hip pain while sitting or lying down if you have lupus.
