“Dr. Bergin at Chiromed Wellness Centers is the best chiropractor in town. I no longer have to take pain meds. If you still have pain, you’re not seeing to best chiropractor.”
Condition
Hip Pain treatment
in Lakeland and The Villages, FL
Many of the hips we examine are not hip joints at all. They are sacroiliac joints, gluteal tendons or lower backs sending pain down. Finding out which changes the whole plan.
- 22 years in practice
- Spine and pelvis examined together
- Non-surgical
- $47 new patient exam
- 22 years in practice
- $47 new-patient exam
Medically reviewed by Dr. Justin Bergin, DC Updated September 14, 2026
Quick summary
Pain around the hip can come from the hip joint itself, from the tendons on the outside of it, from the sacroiliac joint at the back of the pelvis, or from the lower back referring pain downward. Each needs a different plan. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC examines all four sources before treating any of them, at Lakeland and at Lady Lake.
Understanding hip pain
Hip pain is any pain felt around the hip region: the ball and socket joint in the groin, the tendons and bursa on the outside of the hip, the sacroiliac joint at the back of the pelvis, and pain referred there from the lumbar spine. Where the pain sits narrows the source.
The hip joint proper is a deep ball and socket carrying body weight with every step. True hip joint pain is usually felt in the groin and front of the thigh, worse on rotation, on getting out of a car and on putting socks on. The outside of the hip is a different neighbourhood. The bony point there has gluteal tendons attaching to it and a bursa underneath. Pain there is worse lying on that side at night and worse standing on one leg. That is tendon pain, not joint pain. Behind it, the sacroiliac joint transfers load between spine and legs, referring pain into the buttock and down the back of the thigh. The lumbar spine, meanwhile, can refer pain into all of those areas without the back hurting at all. A hip that examines clean while the lower back reproduces the symptoms is a spine problem wearing a hip costume.
People point to very different places when they say hip. Some point to the groin, some to the bony point on the side, some to the back of the pelvis just off the spine. Those are three separate problems with three separate answers, and one word covers all of them. That is where hip care goes wrong. A gluteal tendon gets treated as arthritis, a sacroiliac joint gets treated as a hip, or a lower back quietly referring pain down the thigh gets ignored. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC, 22 years in practice, tests the hip joint, the pelvis and the lumbar spine in one examination, because a practice built on spinal care does not miss the spine in a hip complaint. What happens next is non-surgical and involves no injections. Adjusting for the pelvis and lower back, Omniwave shockwave for tendon pain that has stopped answering to rest, manual therapy for the deep hip muscles, and adapted care where the pain belongs to a pregnancy.
Independent background: Hip pain causes, Mayo Clinic.
Symptoms
Most people recognise their own version somewhere in this list. Each one maps to a specific finding the examination checks for.
- Groin pain on walking
- Pain on the bony point of the hip
- Aching in the buttock
- Pain lying on that side at night
- Stiffness getting out of a car
- Difficulty putting on socks or shoes
- A limp that appears when tired
- Pain down the outside of the thigh
- Clicking or catching on rotation
Common causes
Hip osteoarthritis
Cartilage wear in the ball and socket produces groin pain, loss of rotation and morning stiffness that eases with movement. It is the most common true hip joint diagnosis in older adults.
Gluteal tendinopathy and trochanteric bursitis
The tendons attaching to the bony point degrade under load and the bursa beneath them becomes irritated. Night pain lying on that side is the signature.
Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
The joint between pelvis and spine can move too much or too little, referring pain into the buttock and back of the thigh. Pregnancy and falls are common triggers.
Referred pain from the lumbar spine
An irritated lumbar segment or nerve root sends pain into the buttock, groin and outer thigh while the hip tests normally. This is the source most often missed.
Hip impingement and labral irritation
Extra bone at the rim of the socket or on the femoral neck pinches soft tissue at the edge of the joint, giving deep groin pain on squatting, sitting low and rotating.
Pregnancy related pelvic change
Ligament laxity and a widening pelvis change how load passes through the sacroiliac joints, which is why pelvic and hip pain climbs through the later trimesters.
How we treat hip pain in Lakeland and The Villages
Hip care here begins by deciding which of the four possible sources is generating your pain, then treats that one. The tools are chiropractic care for the pelvis and lumbar spine, Omniwave shockwave for degenerated tendons, manual therapy for the deep hip muscles, and pregnancy adapted care where it applies.
Chiropractic Care for the Pelvis and Lower Back
Where the sacroiliac joint or a lumbar segment is the source, restoring movement there is the treatment rather than a preliminary to it. Adjusting is matched to the joint and the patient, with lower force options available. This is the insurance billed part, checked before you come in.
Omniwave Shockwave for Gluteal Tendon Pain
Tendon pain on the outside of the hip is one of the more stubborn problems in musculoskeletal care, and it usually arrives here after months of rest have changed nothing. The Omniwave system delivers acoustic waves into the tendon through the skin, no needle involved. Cash pay protocol, quoted first.
Manual Therapy for the Deep Hip Muscles
Active Release Technique and Graston work address the glutes, deep rotators and hip flexors, which shorten and thicken around a hip guarded for a long time. Freeing those is often what lets the adjusting and the home program hold.
Pregnancy Adapted Care for Pelvic Pain
Hip and pelvic pain in pregnancy is mechanical and responds to mechanical care. Positioning, technique and expectations are adapted by trimester, and nothing is done that the pregnancy does not allow.
What recovery usually looks like
Settling the source The opening visits
Care aims at whichever structure the examination implicated. Walking distance and getting out of a chair usually shift before the night pain does.
Rebuilding tolerance Through the plan
The hip has to be loaded to improve, so the home program matters as much as anything done in the office. Visits space out as improvement holds longer.
Protecting the result After the active plan
For a pelvis with a long history, a small number of planned reviews protects the gains. Offered and explained, never assumed.
No meaningful change At the agreed review
If nothing has moved by the review point, the diagnosis is revisited. That may mean imaging, or an orthopaedic or rheumatology opinion. Unchanged care is not an option we take.
When to seek care sooner
What to try at home first. For hip pain of a few weeks with no trauma or warning signs, keep walking on flat ground and cut the aggravating loads: deep squatting, crossing the legs, long periods sitting low, and sleeping directly on the painful side. A pillow between the knees at night takes strain off the outside of the hip and often improves sleep within days. Gentle hip range and glute strengthening beat static stretching, and stretching an irritated gluteal tendon usually makes it worse. Give that three weeks. If your walking distance is still falling, get examined. See someone urgently if you cannot bear weight after a fall, if the hip looks deformed or the leg appears shorter or turned out, if there is fever with a hot painful joint, if leg numbness or weakness is progressing, if you have unexplained weight loss or a cancer history, or if there is any change in bowel or bladder control. Older adults who fall should be assessed for fracture even when they can still walk.
Red-flag findings belong with a physician, promptly, and not with conservative care alone.
Cost, insurance and financing
Hip care is priced from the diagnosis rather than from a package, because a sacroiliac plan and a gluteal tendon plan are not the same length. Whatever your plan involves is set out in writing at the report of findings.
The one published price
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47
What moves the cost
- Which structure the examination identifies as the source
- Whether the lumbar spine is treated alongside the pelvis
- Whether an Omniwave shockwave course is part of the plan
- Whether imaging is needed to settle the diagnosis
What a course includes
- The consultation, examination and report of findings
- Digital X-rays where they change the plan
- A written home program specific to your hip
Payment: Chiropractic and the hands-on care delivered with it bill insurance, with benefits verified before your first visit. Omniwave shockwave is cash pay and priced in writing before the course begins. Payment plans are available for self-pay care. Ask the front desk which plan fits your course of care.
Who you would be seeing
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC brings 22 years of examining spines to a complaint that is routinely mislabelled. Hips are where a spine background earns its keep, because the referred cases look exactly like the joint cases until somebody tests both. He runs the examination himself, explains which structure came up positive, and says plainly when the answer sits outside what this practice does rather than starting a plan that cannot work.
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC, 22 years in practice, performs the examination personally and explains the findings before any program starts. Lakeland: 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13, Lakeland. The Villages market office: 929 US-441 #404, Lady Lake. Both offices run the same program.
Getting to us
From the Lakeland side, 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13 is on South Florida Avenue with quick access off the Polk Parkway, bringing in patients from Highland City, Christina, Grasslands, Cleveland Heights and the Harden Blvd corridor. Bonnet Springs Park and the walking routes around Lake Hollingsworth are where many of these hips get tested on a Saturday. The Lady Lake office at 929 US-441 #404, just north of CR 466, is an easy trip from The Villages, Summerfield, Oxford, Fruitland Park, Wildwood and Leesburg across Lake, Sumter and Marion counties. Hips there carry golf, pickleball, gardening and dancing, and losing one usually means losing the calendar that goes with it.
Browse every condition on the conditions we treat index.
Options compared, honestly
This is treated very differently depending on who you walk in to see. Here is the full set, including the options this practice does not provide.
| Criteria | Our approachChiropractic care for the pelvis and lumbar spine | Omniwave shockwave | Manual soft tissue therapy | Image guided cortisone injection | Prescription anti-inflammatory medication | Total hip replacement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Restoring movement at the sacroiliac joint and the lumbar segments loading the hip | Acoustic pressure waves delivered through the skin into a degenerated tendon | Hands-on and instrument work on glutes, deep rotators and hip flexors | A steroid injected into the joint or bursa under imaging | Medication reducing inflammation and pain for a period | Surgery replacing the ball and socket with an implant |
| Typically considered when | The pelvis or lower back reproduces the pain and the hip joint tests clean | Tendon pain outside the hip has outlasted months of rest | Deep muscle is guarded and range keeps collapsing between visits | Pain is severe enough that no rehabilitation can begin | A short course is needed to settle a severe flare | Joint space is gone, pain is constant, walking distance has collapsed |
| Invasive? | No | No | No | Minimally | No | Yes |
| Offered at ChiroMed? | Yes. Billed to insurance, benefits verified first | Yes. Cash pay protocol | Yes. Delivered with the adjusting plan | Not performed here. Reasonable for short term control before rehabilitation | Not performed here. We do not prescribe | Not performed here. An end stage hip belongs with an orthopaedic surgeon |
The last three columns are things we do not provide. A hip that genuinely needs replacing is better served by hearing that at the first visit than by a course of care that was never going to change the joint.
What to expect
From evaluation to a plan for your hip pain
A course, not a single visit. The examination decides the length and the cost, and both are written down first.
- 01
Evaluation
Orthopedic and neurological testing, with imaging on site where it changes the plan.
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02Findings, in plain language
What the examination actually found, and honestly whether this is a case conservative care can help at all.
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03A written program
Which disciplines, how many visits, over what period, and what it costs. Decided before anything begins.
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04Reassessment as it runs
Function is re-measured through the course. If the response says the plan should change, it changes.
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Find out what is actually driving it before choosing a program.
“I have had sich a great experience seeing Dr. Bergin. When other offices have told me I just had muscle damage or the only thing they could do for me was give shots, he said he had others ways to manage my pain and numbness, along with improving mobility. And he was right! I feel so much better!”
“I have had pain in my right upper back quadrant by my shoulder blade for at least a year now and the doctors have been unsuccessful in making the pain go away. I came to Dr. Bergin looking for some help. Within 3 to 4 weeks. My pain in that area is completely gone.”
“Dr. Bergin is phenomenal. Chronic lower back issues led a different doctor to mention back surgery to me. That was not an option I wanted to entertain. After a consult with Dr. B, he was confident that he could help resolve my back issues. I’ve been seeing him weekly to resolve the issue, and I am so pleased with the results so far! More mobility, less pain, and a great customer experience.”
“I bless the day that Dr. Bergin started working on me. I have had long standing pain for so long. After just a few visits my pain left and I feel so good. He is very patient oriented and caring. I regard him highly.”
“Dr. Bergin was instrumental in relieving my back pain which I had for many years. The techniques he used on relieving my back pain were impressive. I been going to chiropractors for years and Dr. Bergin is the best.”
Get in touch
Schedule your hip pain evaluation
Tell us what you are feeling and which office is closer. A member of the ChiroMed team follows up within one business day.
- 1
Send the form
Two minutes. Tell us what hurts and which office is closer.
- 2
We call you back
A real person, within one business day, to find a time that works.
- 3
Exam and answers
History, orthopedic and neurological testing, imaging on site when it changes the plan.
- $47 consultation, exam, X-rays if needed and report of findings
- Payment plans available on the self-pay programs
- 4.8 out of 5 from 225 Google reviews
- Choose Lakeland or The Villages on the form
Hip Pain questions
Tap a message for the honest answer. Call Lakeland (863) 940-3444
Do you need a referral to go to a pain management clinic?
It depends on the clinic and your insurance plan, and many do require one. You do not need a referral to be examined at ChiroMed. Book the consultation, exam and report of findings directly at either office, and if the examination says your hip needs a medical specialist we will tell you what to ask your physician for.
the clinic teamWhat is the difference between pain management and pain clinic?
In practice the terms are used interchangeably, and both usually describe medical clinics whose main tools are medication and injections. A chiropractic and rehabilitation practice works from the other direction, at the mechanics producing the pain rather than the pain signal. The useful question is which your diagnosis calls for.
the clinic teamWhat not to tell your pain management doctor?
Tell them everything, including what has not worked and what worries you. The question behind this one is usually about being dismissed or pushed toward medication you do not want. You can say plainly that you want non-surgical options first. That is a reasonable request and a good provider will work with it.
the clinic teamIs my hip pain coming from my hip or my back?
Groin pain with lost rotation usually means the hip joint itself. Pain in the buttock or down the outside of the thigh, with a hip that moves fully and painlessly when tested, usually means the lumbar spine or the sacroiliac joint. The examination settles it by loading each structure separately.
the clinic teamWhy does my hip hurt more when I lie on that side at night?
Lying on the side compresses the tendons and bursa against the bony point of the hip, so gluteal tendinopathy and trochanteric bursitis are the usual explanations. It is a useful clue, because hip joint arthritis more often gives groin pain and stiffness. A pillow between the knees frequently reduces it.
the clinic teamCan chiropractic care help hip arthritis?
It will not rebuild the joint surface and we will not suggest otherwise. What care can do is restore movement in the joints above and below, reduce the guarding around the hip and improve how you load it, which for many people means better function and less pain. If joint space is gone, that is a surgical conversation.
the clinic teamSame-week appointments
Start with an examination, not a package.
Find out what is actually driving it before choosing a program.
- 4.8 out of 5 on Google
- $47 consultation, exam and report
- 22 years in practice
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47