Hip pain...ug

Question
Hi there,
I have been running for years at about 25 miles a week.  I'm 33 y/o, 5'6" and 135lbs. My husband and I moved for 6 months for work and we were running a ton of hills, on pavement, but the same distances.  I was always running on the left side of the road, and the road was definitely sloped for drainage.
My right hip started to hurt...and I kept going, because it's extraordinarily hard to NOT run for me.  Now I'm still running but down to 20 miles a week, and of course, it's worse. The pain is at the front of my hip- sort of if one would put one's hand on their hip.  And it's tight and the pain is now extending down into the top of my leg a bit, although the pain is certainly worse on top of the bone (iliac crest?).  The pain isn't deep inside the joint.  It definitely stiffens up immediately after running.  I'm back to running on trails which feels better during the run but after I'm in agony.  Sometimes it tingles a bit.

Answer
I can't fully answer this, as its outside my area of expertise, but it sounds to me like you could have a tight "IT band", or illiotibial band, which is a tendon on the lateral side of your thigh.  Running on the same side of the road for miles can lead to this tendon getting tight, due to the offset landing that's repeated over & over on that right side.  Trying a week or two off from running is probably a safe route to try, and just accept the fact that you may have to give up running, in order to enjoy it more later on in a healthier state.  I would see a chiropractor or a physical therapist to see what they think.  A chiropractor would help realign the hips and help with the modality methods in order to help fix the problem.  I had this same thing happen one season while coaching cross-country with my team's runs.  The left side of my knee got really sore & painfully stiff, disabling me for a few weeks, but being able to work on stretching & recovering from the injury.  

I can't say for sure that this is the full case, that's why I recommend seeking professional medical advice in person, as I'm not able to give that at all.

Rick Karboviak