Hip, Glutes and the Pain they Cause

Have you ever experienced hip, butt (aka the glutes), or sciatic pain? If you have, you will probably be the first to say that it is not pleasant, and many times it can be super debilitating. In the past few months, I have had many clients dealing with this, so I wanted to update this blog and re-share how I can help with these problems.

I’ll share two stories from a few years back that had significant changes and also some current clients. These first two in particular had daily life restrictions due to the pain, and they were desperate to fix it.

One man had been having pain since Christmas when I met him in March. When I met him, he couldn’t sit down. Like ever. Can you imagine? He stood all day, paced, and slept. Or tried to sleep. That was also painful. He wasn’t sure what caused it, which was very frustrating. The pain was in his hip, and down into his hamstring. He couldn’t put on socks, and could hardly get shoes on. It was no joke. Through Trigger Point Therapy, Massage & Chiropractic Care, he now has very minimal pain! So much has changed, and he is amazed at the difference. BUT, he committed to his care. At the beginning, he was in once a week, and slowly weaned back as he got better.

Then, there is Carol. She had such RAW pain. That’s how she described it. She had such a hard time walking, bending, and the like. The pain was all around her hip and down into her leg as well. The rawness was just way too much to handle, and she felt like she was at her wits end. After just a few sessions, she told me, “Nikki, it’s scary, I have hope!” Isn’t that an interesting statement? She never ever wanted to go back to where she was and hope was scary because there was a possibility it would get better! Before starting massage, she felt hopeless. One day, her daughter had read my blog post, When You’ve Tried Everything, and Carol made an appointment and never looked back. She also committed to her care, and has been doing work in the pool, PT and working with her medical doctor.

Recently, I’ve had a lot of men come in with hip, glutes and low back pain. Often, they overdo it at work, try to power through the pain, then when they get desperate enough, call me to make an appointment. At this point, getting into the tissues is very tender, and often is pretty intense. However, getting into the hip can be very helpful with function, being able to sleep and having less pain in life. Another thing I have been wondering about is, what is the emotional connection? Over the last many years, I have learned that there is always an emotional tie. Men often stuff their feelings for various reasons; not feeling comfortable to feel, or allowed to, or maybe not knowing how to feel into what it is they are feeling because they were never taught. So, I wonder if a lot of these hip issues are emotions that have been stuffed down over and over again. Looking at Louise Hay’s notes (look her up if you’re interested!) she says that hip problems can be caused from “Fear of going forward in major decisions. Nothing to move forward to.” This is just a curiosity for me right now, but it would be interesting to see how many people resonate with that.

Hip pain can cause terrible pain and weakness. Why?

First of all, we use our hips constantly. Walking, sitting, everything. The gluteus muscles are a huge muscle group that we use constantly, and when they get tight, they refer pain up into the back, and down the leg. Some people even feel it in their toes. The piriformis (a muscle in the butt) can pinch your sciatic nerve when tight and refer pain down the leg as well. Sciatic pain can be vastly improved through massage therapy. There are also many ligaments and tendons in the hip and low back area. The first one that comes to mind is the SI joint. The SI joint ligament can get very dense, and thick. It causes a lot of low back pain, like a band across your back, right above your sacrum. When you have pain here, it can be very hard to bend over.

Here are the referral patterns of the gluteus muscles. The X is where the knot is, and the red is where you actually feel the pain.

So how do I treat it? Trigger Point Therapy and a technique called Cross Fiber Friction are my best friends for this area.

With trigger points, I find those tight spots, or knots, and when I do, I press them. I use my elbow a lot in the butt because I have more control with it here. Once I find a knot, you will usually feel the referral. When you do, I hang out & press/hold until I feel the knot release. And when the knot releases, you will feel the referral change, or disappear. I do this until I’ve worked the whole area! Now, depending on where you are in your care, I take it more slowly. The first session I learn a lot about where the tension is, and work through some of the superficial pain. So, the super intense work isn’t all in one session, and your body will release one thing one session and because of that, we will be able to get deeper in the next session, and release those tissues. Even if it does get uncomfortable, I will encourage you to breathe through it, and we’ll slowly work the area as it releases and lets go. Depending on how long the tension and pain has been present, tension will release. Often times, we spend the whole first session releasing superficial tension, and then in the second session I can move much deeper and the tight spots will be much more defined. Remember, it’s not going to release all at once, especially if you use these muscles frequently at work, or if the pain has been present for a long time.

The point is, massage can help your hip and glut pain. If you commit to your care, you can get better! There is hope! If you have any questions, feel free to email or call me and I can answer any questions.

In the mean time, feel free to check out our YouTube Channel for stretches, foam roller and trigger point ball tips for self care at home. Committing to your care at home makes a huge difference in how quickly you heal. Are you committed to getting better, or do you just want someone else to ‘fix’ you? Take your care into your hands! I also want you to get conscious with how you spend most of your day. If you sit a lot at work, go for a walk when you get home! When we sit at work, then go home and sit, then go to bed and sleep, we're never moving this area. I have had many clients tell me that once they start walking, pain subsides immensely. Your body is made to move!! It will help muscles loosen and strengthen. Yoga for the hips and low back is super helpful as well. Take is slow, implement one thing at a time, make them habits. Soon, you’ll notice a huge change in your life. I’m rooting for you!

Of course for function, so much of it depends on how you are taking care of and loving your body and spirit. We also have an e-course with guided foam rolling techniques for general use and seven different areas of the body, how to use the Trigger Point Ball, and 10 spots we always use it for & 10 different stretches! It’s a great resource to return to again and again. Working on yourself at home can have a great affect on your body between appointments and keep you feeling great!

I hope this helped explain what you may be experiencing,

Nikki