Conditions that can be mistaken for hip impingement include hip flexor issues like tendinitis, or even groin strains, sports hernias, and trochanteric bursitis.
Hip impingement can also mimic sacroiliac joint pain, low back problems like radiculopathy and referred pain from the knee and even piriformis syndrome.
These conditions share similar locations to hip impingement and also can involve deep hip/groin discomfort and pain.
FAI's also known as hip impingement pain from prolonged sitting, deep bending crossing your legs can also be confused with simple muscle tightness.
Groin Strain/Hip Flexor Tendinitis, which results in pain in the front of your hip/groin from muscle use, is often mistaken for hip impingements pinching.
Sports Hernia or core muscle injury shares a similar location to hip impingement, but the pain often gets worse with sit-ups or twisting.
Other conditions that are often mistaken for hip impingement are lliopsoas Tendinitis, which is inflammation of the main hip flexor that causes groin pain and lilac Apophysitis, which causes pain at the front of your pelvis, which is common in young athletes.
Some other conditions that are also confused for and mistaken for hip impingement include Piriformis syndrome, Trochanteric bursitis, sacroiliac joint dysfunction and lumbar radiculopathy/low back pain.
Piriformis syndrome causes pain deep in your buttock/back of your hip.
Trochanteric bursitis causes pain on the outer side of your hip or greater trochanter.
Sacroiliac joint dysfunction causes pain that is felt in your lower back/buttocks/pelvis region.
And lumbar radiculopathy/low back pain causes pain that can radiate from your spine to your hip area, which can confuse the source.