This week the Luck’s Yard manual therapy team did in-house training to look at different causes of buttock pain. And we would love to share what we talked about.

Did you know that there may be many different causes for this, as well as lot of structures that can cause pain in the bum and hips?

Some of the reasons might be:

  • Piriformis syndrome
  • Sacro-iliac joint dysfunction
  • Referred pain from a L5 disc or facet joint
  • Referred pain from hip osteoarthritis
  • Pain from the coccyx
  • Hamstring muscle injury, or strain.
  • Cluneal nerve entrapment, or Maigne’s syndrome (pain in the low back, pelvis, hip, lower abdomen, and groin).
  • And more….

But first things first -finding clues.

Case history

The first thing a chiropractor will do is to do a thorough case history. We need to know about any previous injuries or traumas, and if this has happened before. We need to know how you spend your working day; are you sitting 8 hours a day by a desk, or do you move about? It is helpful to know if you sit with your legs crossed, and lean more on one bum cheek. We also need to know if you do a lot of lifting, and one-sided activity in your job, or if you need to lift young children every day. Another important factor is to understand what kind of sports or hobbies you do as some common reasons for pain in the bum can be one sided, or caused by repetitive activities like race walking, rowing and dancing.

Examination and observation

We then look at your posture and we start with you standing from the back, side and front. We generally assess your alignment from the feet up. It is also essential to examine your spinal joint movements, and the mobility of the sacro iliac joints. We also need to examine your hip joint alignment and mobility. Then we assess the balance and tension of the muscles around the pelvis and hip joints. Could there a link with your foot mechanics and posture?

Diagnosis and plan of management

Once we have ascertained where the pain might come from, we discuss a plan of management with you, and how we will treat you. There might be a need to have an Xray, which we can refer out to the local GP for. The treatment plan will vary depending on what we have found, and how long you have had the problem. It might also vary if it is a long-standing repetitive injury, or a one-off trauma. Other factors that will influence your recovery is how fit you are, your diet, self-care and your work posture.

Treatment

Our manual team all work with a very hands-on approach. Our chiropractic team will generally use specific adjustments as well as mobilisation and soft tissue techniques. Some of our team work with dry needling and Kinesio-taping. Our physiotherapist is very experienced un rehabilitation of joint mobility and strength as well as working hands-on. She is also very experienced in helping those with chronic pain patterns. The massage and sports therapy team use lots of different techniques for your muscles and soft tissues. What is truly special with Luck’s Yard is that we work together and in an integrated way. This means that you might be recommended to see one of the other therapists at some stages in your healing to help get a more complimentary approach. Click here to read about all our different manual therapies by choosing from the list on the right hand column: https://www.lucksyardclinic.com/services-and-treatments/

Home advice

Good progress is always dependent on how much you follow our advice and home care. We will always talk about posture tips, advice with regards to sitting, standing and sleeping as well as specific exercises.  You can download our FREE lucksyardapp which demonstrates lots of exercises and stretches: https://www.lucksyardclinic.com/get-appy-with-lucks-yard/

If you follow your chiropractor’s advice you will help yourself to get the most out of our care.

Here are some general tips for pelvic and hip pain:

  • Stand evenly on both feet whenever you are upright.
  • Sit on both sitting bones, both at home and in the car.
  • Remove the wallet from your back pocket (we jokingly call this a ‘wallectectomy’)
  • Try to be mindful how much you cross your legs.
  • Avoid sitting in deep and soft sofas with a bucket seat, and with your legs tucked up underneath you.
  • Wear good and sturdy shoes with lace-ups, whenever you can.
  • Do your exercises daily or twice daily, and follow our stretches on our clinic app.
  • Get advice and help sooner, rather than later. It is easier to recover when an injury is new.

If you have any questions about this, just contact us at the clinic on www.lucksyardclinic.com or call our friendly reception team on 01483 527945.

Wishing you all good health from the Luck’s Yard Team.

image: pexels.com Ttowfiqu Barbhuiya