Hello! I have to confess that I have
been reading over the areas that I wanted to look at in this series
of Butt Pain and I have hit upon the fact that there is a lot
of anatomy to go through with a myriad of paths that we could trail
down. So, instead of writing lists of muscle attachments and bony
landmarks, what I will do is write about the common Butt Pains that
are presented in the treatment room on a regular basis. Then we can
look at the pain patterning that is common, the linked muscles and
the stretches and exercises that may help and talk around the subject
that way. It then becomes a lot more relevant to you guys and it
won't bore you stupid!
As always, if you are new to the blog
I want you to read “Pain Patterns Explained” that
was written last year. The
blog describe how I look at muscular based pain patterning and how
it can manifest in the body. This is not a diagnostic tool and if
you are in anyway concerned about the pain you are in please consult
your medical practitioner for further advice and diagnosis.
Disclaimer over … phew!
….................................
Generalized Butt Pain is quite easy
for most people to describe. A lot of my clients tell me: “It hurts
at the top of my hip bone and right in the centre of the bum and then
I sometimes feel it on the out side of the hip”. There is a lot of
variation, but the pain is pin pointed and normally feels quite achy
and it can feel like a deep bruise.
In my experience, apart from
headaches, other pain is rarely described with such acute accuracy
when present.
 |
| Gilbert showing off a roughly portrayed pain pattern. |
Today we'll look at the pain that I
have just described; around one side of the butt from the top of the
hip, circling down the inside near the sacrum and coccyx, then
presenting at the side of the hip.
The 4 muscles that are known to
radiate this pain are:
- Gluteus Maximus : Your big butt muscle at the top of the pile near your skin.
- Gluteus Medius: a very funky muscle that allows you to move your leg in all directions. You will find this under the Gluteus Maximus.
- Quadratus Lumborum: One of my top 3 favourite muscles! It hooks into the lowest rib, the outer edge of your spine and the top of your hip.
- Erector Spinae: These muscles run the whole length of your spine and can produce pain all the way down the back, but the lower part of your peachy butt cheek and the top of your hip can also be effected by them.
Gluteus Maximus: It gives your
behind great shape and as the name suggests it's the largest of you
bum muscles. It allows you to take your leg behind you which you do
every time you walk, so it is used a lot.
If you are a keen walker, you may
find that it gets very tight and the contracted state can lead to
trigger point pain patterns, so make sure you stretch it out as much
as possible.
If you lean forward a lot at a desk,
or if you teach in a classroom with young kids and lean over their
desks at a low height, you may find you over stretch this muscle, so
you may find it helpful to tone it up by exercising it.
Gluteus Medius:
This is very similar to your deltoid muscle in your shoulder as it
allows you to flex, medially rotate, internally rotate, extend and
externally rotate your thigh. (Your deltoid does the same for your
humerus.) Your Gluteus Medius also allows you to stabilize your
pelvis, so when you are moving your leg around, your pelvis is
supported by it at the same time. Pretty cool really!
When it's in pain, it causes a lot of
problems over the sacrum, around the S.I joint, the gluteal cleft and
just behind the hip socket. You'll probably feel it when you slump in
front of the sofa or if you lay on it.
The main problems seem to arise when
you sit down a lot as it brings your thigh bone into flexion. For
most of the day you are asking Glut Medius to lengthen and although
it can do it, when asked to do it a lot it just gets long and weak,
so you are more likely to get trigger points there. Also, if you have
had any form of S.I joint dysfunction you'll probably have some
issues with this muscle.
Walking is the A* treatment for this
muscle, it can't get enough of it!
Quadratus Lumborum:
Totally one of the coolest little muscles going! It's so deep and
vitally important. I never really understood how much it worked until
I went on a dissection course last year and learned how to appreciate
it. Professor Kerry was getting us to tell him what it did and we all
cried out “It hitches the hip up!”. Well, yes it does, but not
in the over exaggerated way that we were taught about in our anatomy
class. If you stand up, put your fingers between the lowest rib and
the crest of your hip and hitch your hip up, you'll feel this beast
contract. But it does that with every step you take! Basically, to
allow your foot to swing through as you step forward, Q.L has to get
your hip up to allow for the swing.
It also contracts to bend your body
to the same side in lateral flexion and if both sides work together
they allow you to extend so your spine arches backwards.
Often people come to me if they have
been raking in the garden when they have been repeatedly swung from
side to side, or moving heavy pots and boxes as they have bent down,
picked up the item and then swung round to the other side.
There is a lot you can do for the Q.L
and side stretches are one of easiest things to get going on
releasing it.
Erector Spinae:
These are long and as they are postural muscles they have to fight
against gravity and with our propensity to slouch they get long and weak
over time. Simply extending the spine will make them contract and get
stronger, but we'll look at how to do that in more depth later.
The
next four blogs will be looking at how we can exercise and stretch
these muscles so that we can get them going for summer!
