I have a tendancy to get hip pain on the outside of my right hip, and often the front of the hip too, after running especially. I am not sure what it is caused by but it can hurt when walking even. I run a 3 mile run on 3 of the 5 weekdays, usually Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and do a longer, 6 mile run in the weekend. Then it begins to hurt, I usually take a rest day off or perhaps two. I was wondering what it is which causes it, as it is probably the one thing which is limiting my running. Any ideas?

I guess none of us here can tell you for sure what it is. We can only think of possibilities and guess...
It can be something as simple as having the wrong type of shoes.
Or having one leg slightly longer than the other - which one may not even notice.
Maybe it's an injury that is not healing...

Best thing to do would be to see someone who can get their hands and eyes on your hip, do a few tests and then give you an expert opinion.

Best of luck

Just remembered... I got quite a nagging pain in my right hip when I was backpacking and had to cover long distances...

I was wondering if having odd length legs was the cause. The shoes I have are to help pronating feet, which mine do.

So it doesn't seem to be from the shoes...
I have one leg longer than the other (right longer) which, maybe, after carrying that weight (the backpack) for a long time made itself felt.
If the difference is small you can get some very cheap insoles that will do the trick.
My difference was measured at 0,5cm = 1/5in which I can survive without the insole and only bothers me when doing such hard efforts like a long walk with a heavy backpack.

Is that a significant difference in leg length for a runner though?

Perhaps some exercises to balance your muscles would be good. There are some good yoga poses/hip exercises around. Will see if I can find some online because pictures would be better than my explaining them

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When running I don't find it significant at all. It was only when backpacking that I felt this pain in my right hip.

Your best bet would be to take the shoes that you are running in to a decent running shop or see an expert (physio) for advise.
If you only get the problem when you are running the first thing to do will be to look at your shoes and feet!
The hip pain can be triggered by any number of things, so it would be best to see someone.
You can get a slight leg length discrepancy through over pronation, you might be pronating on one side more than the other!
So until you find out the cause of the problem you wont know if you have to do something simply like muscle strengthening in certain areas, or an insole or a different type of shoes (structured/netural etc)
Hope this helps, good luck

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The Runners Guide Torquay, Devon

just a thought - if you run on roads, the camber of the road can mean one leg lands higher than the other - if you always run facing oncoming traffic, then your left leg will always be higher than your right leg. This has given my hip grief in the past.

don't know if that helps

Could be a multitude of things really
ITB
Leg length (as mentioned by others)
Weak hip abductors
Rotated pelvis

If it hurts when just walking I would suggest a visit to the docs and a referal to a physio might be a good idea. Or does it only hurt walking after running?

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Steve goes off topic more often than he runs......

It can hurt the day after running. Do you have to pay for a phisio?

Thought about that one. I do run on roads, but I run up to a certain point and back the same way, so experience both cambers.

Anyone?

I have been thinking. My feet pronate, I am told, and that is why I was recommended a Nike shoe I have now with a special strong inside arch bit on the sole for extra support. But I was looking at them today and it would seem that I have worn the heels epecially on the outside. This would probably be because of that supportive peice on the the sole, but would that explain for the outside of my hip hurting? Is it more likely that I pronate on the outside, as I was looking today as I ran and they don't seem to lean into the centre like I was told they do? If anything the toes go inward. I will go to the doctors next week, but I really need some guidance.

Go to the doctors and see if he can refer you to a physio. I have a feeling an nhs one may take a while and prob won't be running specific but I may be wrong.
A private sports physio will cost you £25-35 a session roughly,
Get your gait checked at a running shop with video analysis, they may be able to highlight any probs with your current trainers.

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Steve goes off topic more often than he runs......