Right hip pain during walking usually comes from one of a handful common causes, and where exactly you feel the pain is the biggest clue to what’s going on. Nearly 1 in 5 older adults who are sedentary report significant hip pain, and even among physically active people, about 13% deal with it. The good news is that most causes are treatable once you identify the source.
Where You Feel It Matters
Hip pain tends to show up in one of three zones: the front (groin area), the outer side, or the back of the hip and buttock. Each location points to a different set of problems. Pain deep in the groin when you walk usually signals something inside the joint itself. Pain on the outer hip, right over the bony bump you can feel on your side, typically involves the tendons and soft tissue around the joint. And pain in the back of the hip or buttock often originates from the lower back, the sacroiliac joint, or a nerve being compressed somewhere along its path.
This is worth paying attention to because many people say “my hip hurts” but point to their lower back or outer thigh. Knowing the precise spot helps you (and your doctor) zero in on the right diagnosis faster.
Outer Hip Pain: The Most Common Culprit
The single most common reason for hip pain that flares with walking is greater trochanteric pain syndrome. You’ll feel this on the outer side of your hip, right over the bony prominence. It used to be called hip bursitis, but research now shows the problem is more often damage or irritation to the gluteal tendons that attach in that area rather than inflammation of the bursa itself.
This condition makes walking painful, often causes a limp, and tends to get worse going up stairs. Lying on the affected side at night can also be uncomfortable. It’s particularly common in women over 40 and in runners or people who’ve recently increased their activity level. The tendons on the outside of the hip gradually weaken or develop small tears, and each step loads them in a way that reproduces the pain.
Groin Pain: Inside the Joint
If your right hip pain sits deep in the groin or front of the hip, the problem is more likely inside the joint. In younger and middle-aged adults, the two leading causes are labral tears and femoroacetabular impingement, a condition where the shape of the hip bones creates abnormal contact during movement.
A labral tear involves damage to the ring of cartilage that lines the hip socket. The hallmark symptom is a clicking, catching, or locking sensation in the hip, especially during walking or pivoting. You might notice a sharp pinch in the groin when you take a longer stride or twist your body. These tears can develop from repetitive motions, sports, or simply from the shape of your hip joint.
In older adults, groin-area hip pain during walking is more commonly caused by osteoarthritis. The protective cartilage inside the joint wears down over time, leading to stiffness (especially in the morning), a gradually shrinking range of motion, and pain that worsens with activity and improves with rest. Hip flexor strains can also cause front-of-hip pain, particularly after sudden acceleration or kicking movements.
Buttock and Posterior Pain
Pain in the back of your right hip or deep in the buttock when you walk often doesn’t come from the hip joint at all. The most common source is the lumbar spine. A bulging disc, spinal stenosis, or arthritis in the lower back can send pain down into the hip and buttock area, sometimes traveling further down the leg.
Piriformis syndrome is another possibility. The piriformis is a small muscle deep in the buttock that can compress the sciatic nerve when it tightens or spasms. People with piriformis syndrome generally feel more pain while walking and may actually get some relief when sitting, which is the opposite pattern of a disc problem. The pain centers near the middle of the buttock and can radiate down toward the knee in more severe cases.
Hamstring tendinopathy produces pain right at the sit bone (the bony point you feel when you sit on a hard surface) and tends to be worst at heel strike during your walking stride. Another less well-known cause, ischiofemoral impingement, creates pain in the lower buttock or groin along with a snapping sensation during walking. It typically gets worse with longer strides or running because the space between two pelvic bones narrows as you extend your leg behind you.
Weak Hip Muscles and Gait Changes
Sometimes the pain isn’t from a single injured structure but from a pattern of muscle weakness that puts abnormal stress on the hip with every step. The gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles sit on the outside of your hip and are responsible for keeping your pelvis level when you lift one foot off the ground. When these muscles are too weak, your pelvis drops on the opposite side each time you take a step.
This creates a characteristic waddling or lurching gait. Your body compensates automatically, shifting your weight and posture to maintain balance, but the trade-off is extra stress on the hip joint, the knee, and even the ankle. Over time, this uneven loading can cause wear and tear that produces pain in multiple joints. Strengthening these muscles through targeted exercises is one of the most effective treatments for several types of hip pain, including greater trochanteric pain syndrome.
How Hip Pain Gets Diagnosed
The first step is usually a physical exam where you’ll be asked to walk, sit, stand, and move your hip in various directions. Specific tests can help distinguish between joint problems, tendon issues, and nerve-related pain. For example, reproducing your pain by passively extending and rotating your hip suggests ischiofemoral impingement, while a straight leg raise that triggers shooting pain points toward nerve involvement.
If imaging is needed, standard X-rays come first. They’re useful for spotting arthritis, bone shape abnormalities, fractures, and joint space narrowing. When a labral tear or cartilage damage is suspected, an MRI with contrast injected into the joint (called MR arthrography) gives the clearest picture. For broader evaluation of muscles, tendons, and nerves around the hip, a regular MRI without contrast is typically ordered. Ultrasound can also be helpful for evaluating soft tissue problems on the outer hip.
Why Only the Right Side
One-sided hip pain is extremely common and doesn’t necessarily signal anything different from bilateral pain. It often comes down to dominance and habit. If you’re right-leg dominant, that hip absorbs more force during activities. People who cross their legs the same way, always carry bags on one side, or sleep consistently on their right side can develop asymmetric loading patterns. Runners who always run the same route on a cambered road put more stress on the downhill hip. A subtle leg length difference, even a few millimeters, can also shift more load to one side over years.
That said, sudden onset of pain in one hip after a fall, an inability to bear weight, a hip that feels hot or swollen, skin color changes around the joint, or hip pain accompanied by fever all warrant immediate medical attention. Severe, sudden hip pain without a clear injury is also a reason to seek urgent care.