The Thinking Practitioner

172: Lateral Hip Pain: Stop Blaming the Bursa (with Whitney Lowe & Til Luchau)

June 10, 2026·48 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

🎙 Lateral Hip Pain: Stop Blaming the Bursa (with Whitney Lowe & Til Luchau) Til and Whitney unpack why the old “trochanteric bursitis” diagnosis is almost always wrong—and what that means for your hands-on treatment. ✨ Topics discussed include: • The shift from bursitis to tendinopathy: only about 8% of lateral hip cases involve true bursitis; the majority are gluteus medius/minimus tendinopathies compressed under the IT band • Why women are affected at a 4:1 ratio—declining estrogen, wider pelvis geometry, and IT band bowstringing • Why direct deep pressure on the greater trochanter can backfire—neural sprouting, pain prediction, and the GPR83 pathway • Smarter treatment: targeting gluteus maximus and TFL to reduce IT band compression, rather than trying to “loosen” the band itself • Simple assessment tools: the 30-second single leg stance, the shoelace test, and the bilateral night pain pattern • Stretching caution: why aggressive IT band stretching increases the very compression you’re trying to relieve 🌱 Sponsor Offers: • Jane App — Practice management built for health and wellness practitioners. Thinking Practitioner listeners get a free first month; enter code THINKING1MO at checkout: https://a-t.tv/jane • Deep Roots Massage & Bodywork — Carefully crafted, small hands-on CE workshops in Keene, NH. Save 10% with code THINKING: https://deeprootsmb.com • ABMP — Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals. Thinking Practitioner listeners save at https://www.abmp.com/thinking • Books of Discovery — Explore their collection at https://www.booksofdiscovery.com and save 15% with code THINKING • Advanced-Trainings — Try one month free of Til Luchau’s A-T Subscription with code THINKING: https://a-t.tv/subscriptions/ • Academy of Clinical Massage — Grab Whitney’s free Assessment Cheat Sheet: https://academyofclinicalmassage.com/cheatsheet ✨ Watch the video / connect with us: • Whitney Lowe – https://academyofclinicalmassage.com | https://facebook.com/WhitneyLowe | https://twitter.com/whitneylowe | https://www.youtube.com/@whitlowe  • Til Luchau – https://advanced-trainings.com | https://facebook.com/advancedtrainings | https://instagram.com/til.luchau | https://www.youtube.com/@AdvancedTrainings/podcasts  📧 Email us: info@thethinkingpractitioner.com The Thinking Practitioner Podcast is intended for professional practitioners of manual and movement therapies — bodywork, massage therapy, structural integration, physical therapy, osteopathy, and similar professions. It is not medical or treatment advice.

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