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Self-Tests for Hip Pain From Running A Solo At-Home Screening Sequence

Yes — you can self-test hip pain at home. The tests below are solo-adapted versions of what a physio or sports doctor would run you through in clinic: the Flexion ABduction External Rotation (FABER) test, the Trendelenburg test, the Thomas test, and a hop test for stress reactions. None of them replace a proper diagnosis, but they'll tell you far more than guessing, and they'll make your eventual appointment more useful too.

I've spent over twenty years running the Best Running Tips injury helpline, walking runners through exactly this kind of self-triage before they ever see a professional. Work through the sequence below, take your results seriously, and use them to make your next step — whether that's more training, a rest week, or a phone call — a more informed one.

Can You Really Self-Test Hip Pain? Where These Tests Help and Where They Don't

Let's be honest about what these four tests can and can't do. FABER, Trendelenburg, Thomas, and the hop test are the exact same tests clinicians use — I've just adapted them so you can run them solo, without a partner or a clinic table.

Here's the catch: even in a clinician's hands, these tests have real false-positive and false-negative rates. They were never designed to stand alone. A positive result raises suspicion. It doesn't confirm a diagnosis. A clean set of negatives doesn't rule out an injury either, especially if your pain is worsening or comes with other red flags.

Think of this page as a triage step, not a verdict. Done properly, it makes your eventual professional visit more useful — you'll walk in able to describe exactly what you found, rather than just where it hurts. Treating a single positive result as a confirmed diagnosis is exactly the over-confidence the clinical literature itself warns against, so don't.

It's worth pairing these tests with how pain location maps to likely cause — the two combine well.

Before You Start: Skip the Hop Test If You Suspect a Fracture

One safety check before you do anything physical. If your pain is present at rest, wakes you at night, or came on with a specific traumatic moment — a fall, an awkward landing, an audible pop — don't hop. Go straight to skip to red flags if you suspect a fracture instead of working through this sequence.

The hop test below is for runners without those signs. If any of them apply to you, testing further isn't the priority — getting seen is.

The Hop Test: Screening for a Possible Stress Reaction

Stand on the painful leg and hop in place three to five times. That's the whole test.

A positive result is sharp, localised pain reproduced by the hop — not general fatigue, and not a dull ache. If that happens, stop testing here and see a doctor rather than continuing through the rest of the sequence.

A negative result — no sharp, reproducible pain — means it's reasonable to continue to the next three tests.

One caveat worth remembering: this is a screen, not a fracture rule-out. Persistent, pinpoint bone pain still warrants a doctor's visit even if your hop test comes back negative.

The FABER Test: A Solo-Friendly Version

FABER stands for Flexion, ABduction, and External Rotation, and it normally needs someone else to stabilise your pelvis while you test. Here's how to adapt it.

Lie on your back and cross your painful-side ankle over the opposite knee, making a figure-four shape. Let the bent knee drop toward the floor or table under its own weight — don't force it down.

Without a second person to stabilise your pelvis, use your opposite-side hand to gently press down on that hip bone as the knee lowers. That small adjustment keeps your result closer to a true clinical test.

A positive result is pain reproduced either in your groin — suggesting front-of-hip or joint involvement — or across your low back or sacroiliac (SI) joint, suggesting a back-of-pelvis cause. Note which location the pain shows up in; it maps to different likely causes. Compare both your knee height and your pain to the uninjured side while you're at it.

The Trendelenburg / Single-Leg Stance Test for Hip Abductor Weakness

This one normally needs someone watching from behind. Stand in front of a mirror instead, or prop your phone against a wall and film yourself from behind.

Place your thumbs or fingertips on top of both hip bones — your iliac crests — so you have a reference point you can actually feel. Then, standing on the painful leg, slowly lift your other foot off the ground.

A positive result is your pelvis dropping on the lifted-leg side instead of staying level, or your torso leaning noticeably over the standing leg to compensate. Both point to weakness in your hip abductor — specifically your glute medius — on the standing, painful side. That's a common driver of lateral hip pain and bursitis in runners.

Hold each side for five to ten seconds and compare.

The Thomas Test for Hip Flexor Tightness

Sit at the edge of a bed or a sturdy table, then lie back and pull both knees to your chest.

Keep your uninjured-side knee hugged in with your arms, and slowly let your painful-side leg extend down off the edge.

A positive result is the thigh not lying flat — it stays lifted, leaving a visible gap between the back of your knee and the table. That points to a tight hip flexor, either your iliopsoas or rectus femoris, and it's common with anterior hip pain, often aggravated by hill work or speed sessions.

A phone propped to the side, set to photo or video, makes the flat-versus-lifted comparison far easier to judge on yourself than craning your neck to look down at your own leg.

Putting It Together: A 4-Test At-Home Screening Sequence

Run all four tests in one sitting rather than spreading them across separate days — that keeps your comparisons consistent. The whole sequence takes five to ten minutes.

Here's the order, and what to note at each step:

1. Hop test first — if positive, stop and see a doctor.
2. FABER — note whether pain shows up in your groin or your back/SI area.
3. Trendelenburg — note which side the pelvis drops on.
4. Thomas — note which side shows hip flexor tightness.

Use the checklist below to record what you find.

Test	What a Positive Result Looks Like	Likely Implication
Hop test	Sharp, localised pain reproduced by hopping	Possible stress reaction — stop testing, see a doctor
FABER test	Pain in the groin, or in the back/SI area, as the knee lowers	Groin pain: hip flexor/labral involvement. Back/SI pain: SI joint or lower back involvement
Trendelenburg test	Pelvis drops, or torso leans, on the standing side	Hip abductor (glute medius) weakness
Thomas test	Thigh doesn't lie flat; visible gap behind the knee	Tight hip flexor (iliopsoas/rectus femoris)

What Your Results Suggest — and Which Specialist to See

Here's how to turn a positive result into your next call — a professional starting point, not a self-diagnosis.

• Positive FABER, groin pain: points towards hip flexor or labral involvement — see a sports medicine doctor or orthopaedist.
• Positive FABER, back/SI pain: points towards your SI joint or lower back rather than your hip itself — a physio with SI joint experience is a sensible first call, and it's worth checking how pain location maps to likely cause for the overlap with referred lower-back pain.
• Positive Trendelenburg: points towards glute medius weakness or bursitis — a physio for a strengthening programme is usually the right first step, not imaging.
• Positive Thomas: points towards hip flexor tightness — usually manageable with mobility work before you need to escalate to a specialist.
• All-negative, persistent pain: still warrants a general practitioner (GP, or family doctor) or sports medicine visit. Negative self-tests don't rule out injury — they just don't point to one specific structure.

I'll say this plainly: these results tell a professional where to start. They aren't a diagnosis on their own, and treating them as one is exactly the mistake this page is built to help you avoid.

Once you've got a likely cause in hand, what to do once you have a likely cause is your next stop. And for the wider picture on hip pain in runners, head back to the complete guide to hip pain in runners.

Self-testing does one job well: turning "my hip hurts" into something specific enough to act on. Work through the sequence above, take your result seriously either way, and don't skip the safety check just because you're keen to get moving again.

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