To Ginger (my words below are with love)
you are hilarious..., adding DR or not makes no difference to me(laughing)...this is not a place for flexing honors, its a site to share knowledge ...Its my username, this is no ward round or academic lecture theatre, I dont change peoples usernames simply because I want to or its not my cup of tea, ... if you have a PHD, kudos to you, if your username spelt Dr Ginger, thats what Ill call you, it would be silly of anyone to assume usernames are really peoples names or titles, so try and stay humble....lol
I can call myself professor Mushroom, Mr crutches or sargent ultrasound, it really shouldnt matter to you...

Coming back to the discussion, Alophysio's comment is much appreciated because what we habitually call bursitis can infact be gluteus medius tendinopathy or tears(which often is the case).I personally do not know any physios that assess the spine in a wish washy manner that you described (at least not me). I have asked if this pathology is a myth in ur own experience and that all cases have infact been spinal mechanisms? The theoretical lecture is much appreciated, please answer the question...a yes or no will do me just fine...

question 2, what if you have ruled out lumbar spine as a cause but the hip pain persists? would you consider that the pathology exists then?

What I know is that if anyone presents with what appears to be "bursitis" this is not likely to be the main problem...instinctively I am looking for other reasons for this presentation...the lumbar spine is never far from my assessment, infact it is usually the place to start for any seemingly mechanical pain below the thorax...

You know what dont call me Dr damien, come to think of it I think I prefer DAME EDNA? lol