Leanne had started to notice that she was unable to lie on her left side at night without pain.
Her hip had started to ache if she crossed her legs when sitting, as well as after long periods of sitting or driving.
Leanne had stopped her regular exercise class as it was the same time she needed to pick her grandchildren up from school.
She had increased her walking to 1 hour a day, however she was now unable to complete her walk due to her soreness.
When she visited us, Leanne showed us the point on the side of her hip where she had a deep ache.
In our assessment, we found Leanne had pain when standing on one leg, and was very tender over the outside of her hip.
When we tested the strength around her hip, we found it to be weak and painful compared to her right side.
Leanne was experiencing a Gluteal Tendinopathy, or inflammation of one of the tendons in her hip.
These are common, and can often be caused by increasing OR decreasing load around the hip joint suddenly by stretch or pressure.
One of the most important aspects of treating gluteal tendinopathy is changing aggravating postures.
These are typically those which either turn the hip inwards or bring the hip closer to the midline of your body, as these stretch out the painful tendon.
In her first session of physio, we talked to Leanne about not crossing her legs, as well as using a pillow in between her legs at night to stop her knees touching together.
Leanne’s home program started right away with exercises called ‘isometrics’, which allow a muscle to be worked without any movement of the painful joint.
Finally, we also did some soft tissue release around Leanne’s hip to ease off tight muscles in the painful area.
It was recommended that Leanne try icing to help reduce inflammation around her tendon, as well as considering talking to her GP regarding some anti-inflammatories.
We worked out that Leanne could walk for 30 minutes without pain, so we limited her walking time initially.
Over the next 8 weeks, Leanne worked through a progressive hip strengthening program with us consisting of, progressing from early isometrics to functional weight bearing exercises like sit to stand, bridging and banded monster walks.
Leanne has gradually increased her walking time back up to 1 hour, and can complete it without pain.
Leanne is now able to lie on her left side to sleep at night, as well as sit for any desired length of time with no issues.
If this story sounds familiar to you, or you’ve been diagnosed with a gluteal tendinopathy, we’d love to help!
Take Care
Annissa Harwood
BSc Physiotherapy (Hons)