One of the most common orthopaedic complaints is pain in the lateral hip commonly called greater trochanteric bursitis: Previously, it was believed that this pain resulted from an unexplained irritation of the bursa located on the outside of the hip joint; however, it has recently been discovered that many of the hip bursitis cases are actually tendinosis cases that are caused by wear-and-tear, partial tears or complete tears of the gluteus tendons.

The gluteus tendons (medius and minimus) attach to the greater trochanteric bursa. Therefore, the irritated bursa may be secondary to the partial or complete tears of the gluteus tendons: Since this discovery, many medical professionals have started to use the term greater trochanteric pain syndrome as opposed to “greater trochanteric bursitis.”  The proper name is gluteus medius or minimus tendinosis instead of greater trochanteric bursitis.