Written by the Phoenix Rehab physiotherapy team.Clinically reviewed by Louise Yow, Principal Physiotherapist & Director, AHPC A1300363H.Last reviewed 4 October 2026.

Snapping hip is a click, clunk or snap you can feel, and sometimes hear, as the hip moves. Most of the time it is a tendon flicking over a bony ridge, and if it does not hurt, it needs no treatment. It is common in dancers, runners and people who train the hips through big ranges. When it starts to hurt, or the hip catches or gives way, it is worth working out which kind it is.

The three kinds of snapping hip

Kind	Where you feel it	Usually
Outer (external)	On the outside of the hip, often visible: you can see or feel it jump	The IT band or gluteal tendon flicking over the bony point of the hip, walking, climbing stairs or rotating
Front (internal)	Deep at the front of the hip, a clunk you can hear	The iliopsoas tendon flicking over the front of the pelvis, typically when lowering a leg from a bent, outward position: a développé, a leg raise, getting out of a car
Inside the joint	Deep in the groin, a click with pain, catching or the hip giving way	The hip joint itself, such as a labral tear. See hip labral tear

The first two are tendon problems outside the joint.¹ The third needs a different plan, and sometimes a doctor’s opinion.

Is snapping hip serious?

Usually not. Painless snapping is common and does not damage the hip. You do not need to stop it. It becomes a problem when the area under the tendon gets irritated: an ache on the outside of the hip, or at the front, after training. Snapping with sharp pain, catching or locking is different and should be assessed.

What helps

Stop making it snap on purpose. Doing it to check, again and again, keeps it irritated.
Change the load, not the activity. Less range under load for a while: shallower développés, smaller leg raises, fewer stairs at speed.
Strength and control. The snap often comes when the deep hip muscles are not controlling the leg through the range. Gluteal strength and slow, controlled leg lowering usually help more than stretching.
Injections or surgery are uncommon and are a doctor’s decision when months of rehabilitation have not helped.

What we measure

Where and when. Where and when it snaps, whether it hurts, and whether a doctor’s opinion is needed.
Strength. Hip strength in each direction, both sides.
Control. Lowering the leg slowly through the range where it snaps, on each side.
Return. Dance, running or gym range brought back in steps.

Tested, not dated. You go back to full range when the measures say so.

When to see a doctor first

Go to the emergency department now if you cannot put weight on the leg after a fall or injury, or the hip is hot, swollen and painful with a fever.
See a doctor soon if the hip locks, gives way, or the clicking comes with deep groin pain that is getting worse.

Where are you with this right now?

1. It snaps but it does not hurt

Then leave it. You do not need us for this, and we would rather say so.

2. It has started to hurt

It used to just click in class. Now the front of the hip aches after every rehearsal, the adage section is the worst, and you have started cheating the leg height to avoid the clunk. Stretching it every night has not changed it. The control of the leg through that range, on that side, is what needs measuring.

WhatsApp us · Get Assessed & Treated · One 45-minute appointment, $230, nett, no GST.

3. You have had surgery, or you have a date

After hip arthroscopy, see the Hip Arthroscopy and FAI Recovery Program. All of it runs on the four stages of the Phoenix Recovery Protocol.

Clinics across Singapore

ORCHARD

400 Orchard Road #12-12

Orchard Towers, S238875

NS22 Orchard MRT

Physiotherapy and hand therapy in Orchard →

WhatsApp 8800 1830

TAMPINES

9 Tampines Grande #01-20

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