Hip Pain at Night: Causes and solutions for lateral hip pain and groin pain lying on your side

If your hip hurts while you're trying to sleep on your side, physical therapist Christine Koth explains what could be causing hip pain at night and how to adjust your position to get some sleep.

If you have outer hip pain, such as hip bursitis, you may feel pain either on the hip you’re laying on, or the hip you’re not laying on.

If you have pain in the hip you’re laying on, pain caused by direct pressure on the joint, then pay attention to your mattress surface. You may find relief by adding a memory foam pad or mattress topper to your mattress to help distribute your weight more evenly and provide extra cushion for that hip joint.

If you have pain on the hip you’re not laying on, try sleeping with a pillow between your knees and ankles. It may take some time to find a position that works with your pillow, and you may even have to try out pillows of different densities. The goal is to have your legs rest parallel to each other, so your knee is not lower than your hip. This can be accomplished by using a fat pillow, resting lengthwise from knees to ankles.

Sleeping with a pillow between your knees and ankles is a good way to relieve SI joint pain while sleeping on your side, as it reduces the strain on muscles attaching to the top of the thigh bone (greater trochanter). This strain on the hip is directly related to tight hip flexors (specifically a tight iliacus muscle), which causes an anterior pelvic rotation, and pulls on the lower back and hip joint.

Whatever the pillow position you choose, the main purpose of sleeping with the pillow is to alleviate the pull on your hip’s soft tissues and keep your pelvis in a natural alignment.

When you allow your leg to rest naturally while lying down, there is a slight dip that enables your legs to connect and rest. When this happens, your leg's natural pull adds more pressure to the muscles around your hip joint, which can then cause hip pain when sleeping.
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Created by a physical therapist, the Hip Hook is the world’s first tool designed for psoas release AND iliacus release. Just a few minutes a day with the Hip Hook can provide long-term pain relief to the lower back, hips, tailbone, knees, and feet. Tightness in the iliacus and psoas is directly connected to many different kinds of pain throughout the body because its tightness rotates the pelvis and twists the body out of alignment.

[feelinfunky-tg]

Very well explained and addressed my outer hip pain issue. Thanks very much!

[tarmbruster]

You nailed it. For me tight hip flexors. Lately I’ve been waking up with a lot of inner groin pain. I found that I am very tight. I have begun a stretching routine and using pillows. What a difference.
Thank you.

[mulitiger]

Thank you for a new video, I usually can't sleep or lay on my left side at all for long, the pain from the hip will wake me up and I turn over, this has been this way for years. Now that I'm "hip hooking" I'm hoping that will relieve the pain and I can get a good nights sleep. :)

[Angela-htrp]

Thank you so much! You do good work <3

[BracownReclidobo]

I have EDS and torn labrums on both sides (hips) (well shoulders too but that is not the point here). Needless to say I have dealt with very serious chronic pain for many years. I have been told by multiple massage therapists and PT's i have the tightest hip flexors they have ever seen. I recently got a hip hook! Do you have any experience working with EDS? I am curious if there are any special considerations or techniques i should be aware of or avoid. THANK YOU for your great work!!

[retiredslamjamm]

What about sleeping on your back. I sometimes wake up with the hip flexor, groin area tight and painful. Moving to the side helps.