Gluteus advice

[laura800]

Hello

I have been a professional 800m runner, but have been suffering with non stop injuries!! I have already had 3 ops on my achilles (which seem to be better now) but now I'm having glute problems!! I tore my left gluteus medius for no reason, I was just jogging and it popped, so I sat out for about 2 months doing nothing, and now I am feeling my right one!!!!! What on earth is going on? Firsly let me say that I have been having pain on my right hip bone for the past 3 weeks, its right at the top and tender to touch but I hadn't felt any pain in my glude until yesterday during a workout I felt it tighten up, so I stopped. Today I can't run :-( and feel both my glute and the hip bone area.

Do you think that I might have felt pain on the bone area bc that is where the muscles attach? What do you think is the cause of this and what should I do to treat it?

I haven't gone to my Dr and physio with this bc I'm feeling a bit pathetic at the moment as there is always bloody something - I just don't seem to be able to catch a break!!

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Laura

[Yarok]

hi Laura do not feel pathetic!, somewhere are chains of disfunction when one link affect another( achilles, pelvise etc ) you need investigate wholistically ( from physical to mental well-being)

check your body balance, pattern of muscle recruitment etc

thanks
Yaro

[laura800]

Hi Yarok,

Thank you very much for your reply! How do I check for those things? I do feel that something is out of wack.

Thanks again for your reply

[Yarok]

Hi

I think you should see an open mineded therapist.

hope our online community will be helpful. always have distance to practitioners and question what are told.

tell me what your posture looks like and hip joint motion, jogging pattern, or give us as much info as possible.
thanks
Yaro

[karen.hankey]

Hi Laura,

Gluteus Medius is a stability muscle rather than a power muscle. I would be wary of the fact that you have torn it. When this happened did you have any bruising?

Firstly I would go to the physio. I would get the sacroiliac joint checked out as well as the hip. The sacroiliac joint is affected by impact activities e.g.running, and when it becomes inflamed the gluteal muscles tighten up as a protective measure.

I wouldn't advise running at the moment, but non-impact activities should be no problem.

I also agree with Yarok, in that it would be interesting to check if your past achilles injuries are linked in any way to this.

[Yarok]

thanks Karen

and you Laura how do you know the muscle ( gl medius) was/is torn?

thanks
Yaro

[laura800]

Thank you Karen and Yarok for your help and great advice!! Its very much appreciated!!

I know I tore the left glute bc I had an MRI, but that one is now fine and am feeling the right side.

Posture - I am 1m83 (6ft) 59 kg. I have VERY high arches in my feet, I have been told by my chiro that one of my hips is slightly rotating forward. back posture is sort of normal, I have a bit of an arched back, but nothing shocking - never had any back problem! Oh I wear orthototics/insoles when I run. I have been video taped running in a lab and they told me that when my foot touches the ground I land on the outside and then roll to the inside which is why I had achilles problems (but I'm not sure if I agree with that theory).

My hips are kind of flexible, apart from the fact that they are slightly rotated, I don't know what else to say about it...

Since feeling the pain on thursday I did nothing till yesterday (so 3 days) and did a easy 30 min run and today I am feeling pain on the bone again!!!

I hope all this info helps, and thank you so much for taking the time to help!

Laura

[karen.hankey]

Originally Posted by laura800

Since feeling the pain on thursday I did nothing till yesterday (so 3 days) and did a easy 30 min run and today I am feeling pain on the bone again!!!

In the 3 days that you didn't do anything, did you feel any pain?

[laura800]

Well on thursday after I felt the pain move from the bone area to the muscle I stopped the workout and then did nothing until yesterday. I still felt it on friday and a bit on sunday, but monday and yesterday (before I ran) it was feeling fine, and I could only feel it a bit at the top by the bone. Today I don't feel the glute muscle itself, but again at the top near the bone. However I know that if I would try to accelerate on todays run or try and do strides it would go down to the glute.

This is exactly the same feeling I had before I tore the left side. At first I thought that it was my hip bone (which sort of feels bruised) but then on an easy run I felt a pop in my glute and that was that.

Thanks again for your help

[alophysio]

Hi Laura,

I am almost certain that you have a pelvic dysfunction causing your muscles to overwork just to hold you together - not that there is much of you! 59kg for 6' is VERY light!

You need someone who has experience with motor control and to assess how your movement patterns are affecting your running.

It is difficult to assess something like this without pictures or seeing you run or in person.

Where are you lcoated??

[laura800]

Thank you for your reply! I live in Geneva Switzerland. I know that ever since I stopped running due to achilles things just haven't seemed right. I don't feel as though I run the same way and I have felt like my hips are "off". I just presumed that it was bc I was out of shape.

[laura800]

btw what is a pelvic disfunction? I remember the man who made my orthotics told me that my pelvis was not right and that I had to do exercises to rectify it, but I don't remember him showing me those exercises.

Thanks again for your help!!

[alophysio]

Pelvic dysfunction is simply your pelvis not working properly. It is usually a coordination issue unless you have had significant trauma.

I can try to help if you post pictures of your body standing from in front, side on and behind but really, your best bet is to seek a physiotherapist who understands the pelvis and how to retrain your motor control.

I am sure there are loads of good physios in Switzerland and Germany but i do have a friend in Germany - let me know if you are interested - maybe she knows someone near you...