Hip pain and lower back pain rarely exist in isolation because the hips and lumbar spine are designed to share movement and load with every step, bend, and twist. When the hips become stiff or weak, the lower back is forced to move and work more to compensate, which can gradually irritate joints, discs, and muscles in the lumbar region.
How limited hip movement stresses the lower back
Healthy hips allow you to hinge, walk, climb stairs, and rotate without asking too much from the spine. If hip flexion, extension, or rotation are restricted – for example after old injuries, prolonged sitting, or early osteoarthritis – the body still has to achieve the same overall movement, so it “borrows” extra motion from the lower back. Over time this can lead to:
- overload of the small facet joints in the lumbar spine,
- persistent tightness in the muscles either side of the lower back,
- pain felt in the low back, the hip, or both at the same time.
Typical patterns you might notice
- Hip pain or stiffness when walking or standing up, combined with low‑back ache after sitting.
- Difficulty putting on socks or shoes because the hip does not bend or rotate easily.
- A pulling sensation in the low back when bending forwards, while the hip itself feels blocked rather than sharply painful.
How working on the hips can ease back pain
Improving hip function often reduces the mechanical stress on the lumbar spine and can significantly ease back pain. Helpful strategies include:
- exercises to increase hip range of motion (flexion, extension, rotation),
- strengthening the gluteal and deep hip muscles to stabilise the pelvis,
- learning a good hip hinge pattern so that bending comes mainly from the hips while the lower back stays relatively neutral.
When more movement happens where the joint is built for it (the hip) and less in the lower back, the spine no longer has to work overtime, and both hip and back symptoms often improve together.
