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Pain in the buttock and hip
In the area around the buttock and hip there are many muscles and ligaments, to stabilize the pelvis and hip joint and create power and thrust forward. The gluteal muscles consist of several large muscles. Deep beneath these large muscles are several small cooperating muscles, which extend between the sacrum and the femoral head, the greater trochanter. Among other things, they help with outward rotation and stabilizing the hip joint. Deep down among these small muscles, the sciatic nerve also extends from the lumbar vertebrae down around the hip joint and down the outside of the leg. It is a strong, long nerve, which is easily pinched when the muscles become overworked and cramp.
Causes of buttock and hip pain
A common cause of buttock pain and hip pain is too short and tight hip flexors.
When the hip flexors and their fascia become too short and tight, they don’t give enough when the opposite muscles have to stretch the hip, pushed when walking and running. They then have to work harder and are easily overworked and can cramp. The fascia tightens and the gliding function and flow deteriorate. Often one side is worse than the other, but it can also be bilateral.
The cause can also be an injury or, for example, osteoarthritis in a hip. Injury due to trauma often leads to compensation and thus misalignment of the muscles and fascia, which creates overstrain and tightness.
Similarly, osteoarthritis, which is also often caused by misalignment, causes uneven loading of muscles and fascia due to compensations when it hurts. Fascia structures and muscles around the pelvis and hip joint slide less smoothly and create pain.
Piriformis – Pain in the buttock and hip
One of the small muscles under the large gluteal muscles is called the piriformis. It has given its name to the problem of piriformis syndrome, although several of the small muscles working together can cause the problem.
Read more about piriformis syndrome.
Pain in the buttock and hip during pregnancy
Hormonal changes during pregnancy cause the composition of the fascia to change. Fascia structures become softer and less stable. This makes it easier for the muscles to become overstretched as they lose some support from the softer fascia. This, together with the increasing load and changing center of gravity, can create problems and pain in the buttock and hip area.
What is pain in the buttocks and hips a symptom of?
If you have pain in your buttocks and hips, it is usually a symptom of an imbalanced load on the body, so that the muscles and fascia structures around the pelvis and buttocks are loaded unevenly. For example, an asymmetrical load can cause one side’s hip flexors to become tighter, causing the hip extensors and others to work harder and become overstretched, cramping and pressing on nerves. An overloaded fascia with too much pressure creates densities that impair gliding function and flow, inhibit nerve signaling and irritate nerve receptors that signal pain.
Why do you get pain in your buttocks and hips?
When the hip flexors are short and not flexible enough in their work, it can cause pain in the buttocks and hips. This is common when you sit a lot at work, for example when working in an office, driving a car, riding a horse, etc.
If you have osteoarthritis in a hip, you often create compensations in your movement pattern that can cause pain in the buttock and hip due to misalignment and overexertion. Osteoarthritis is also often the result of an awkward and unbalanced posture. It’s a vicious circle. It creates compressions and there is less gliding function in the fascia structures and muscles around the pelvis and hip joint, which causes pain.
It can also be an injury, a trauma, that produces pain in the buttock and hip in the same way, due to compensations and misalignments of the musculature and fascia.
When and where should I seek treatment for buttock and hip pain?
It is good to seek help as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary sprains due to compensations for the pain. If you have suffered a severe trauma and are in pain, you should check that it is not a more serious injury.
Pain from soft tissues, fascia structures and muscles, around the buttock and hip area can be treated at a Fascia Clinic. Book an examination and treatment before you have further problems due to compensating for the pain.
How is the treatment of buttocks and hip pain done?
At a FasciaClinic, your posture and asymmetry are analyzed. The treatment relieves and releases tension and makes the body more balanced and evenly loaded. The flow in the fascia and lymphatic system is increased and transportation to and from cells is improved. The treatment is gentle and comfortable and should be repeated a few times for best results. It is also important that, if possible, you try to change the behavioral patterns that have caused you pain.
Pain in the buttocks and hip – What can I do myself?
Try to vary your working position. For office work with a lot of sitting, use a height-adjustable desk, so you can stand up occasionally. Try to load and stretch your legs equally when you stand, do not weigh more on one leg.
Take many small breaks in all the work and a small short walk.
Try to constantly think about your posture and how you strain your body.
Exercises for pain in the buttocks and hips
It is always good and important to stretch the hip flexors, as they often become too short. This can be done by practicing a lunge, where one leg is brought forward and the other is stretched behind the body, like doing a lunge in fencing. Stay in this position for at least one minute. Then switch legs and repeat for the other side.
A variation of the exercise above can be done but instead you kneel down with the leg you are stretching.
You can also put your foot on a chair behind you, stretch up and push your hip forward. This feels good in the hip flexor.
