Gluteal tendinopathy is a painful and sometimes extremely debilitating condition. Understanding what you should do and what you shouldn’t do are equally as important for managing the condition.
DO’s:
1.Maintain an active lifestyle within the constraints of your pain
Staying active is one of the most important things you can do to promote recovery. The last thing you to want to do is become inactive and fall into the trap of avoiding all activities which leads to an ongoing cycle of deconditioning and worsening pain. The fitter and stronger a person is, the easier it is do and find the right exercises for them to get better.
2. Seek help from a healthcare professional to help you understand and manage condition.
Dr google and social media are often unreliable sources of information. There is so much conflicting information that it is hard to truly know what good information is and what is misinformation. Speaking to a healthcare professional that understands the condition will take the guess work out of things and give you a sense of reassurance.
3. Be consistent and patient with your exercises
It can be especially frustrating if you don’t see improvements week to week with exercises. Rest assured, tendon problems take time to improve. There are no permanent quick fixes for gluteal tendinopathy, and it is important to be consistent and stick to the plan if you nwant to get better as soon as possible.
DON’Ts:
1. Avoid stretching the glute muscles
Sore tendons dislike being stretched. They much prefer loading with regular exercises. Stretching should be reserved only in the later stages of rehabilitation when symptoms have significantly improved. Stretches are often unnecessary unless a person wants to regain flexibility and mobility at the end of rehab.
2. Avoid habits that put unnecessary stress on your hips
Common habits such as crossing your legs when you sit, sitting for prolonged periods, hitching on one hip when you stand and lying on the sore side are all things that place unnecessary stress on an already sore hip. Be conscious of what your hips are doing during the day and avoid these habits until your hips start feeling better.
3. Completely resting and avoiding all exercise/physical activity
Resting is a common natural reaction when you experience pain. However, gluteal tendinopathies don’t respond well to complete rest- tendons hate complete rest and don’t recover well if not loaded! There are plenty of alternatives to keep you active and moving so that your hip pain resolves faster.
4. Avoid foam rolling the sore hip!
Foam rolling an already sore hip will only make the hip pain worse. You might feel temporary relief after pushing through the excruciating pain, but this will only slow down progress in the long term. Foam rolling places excessive compressive forces through gluteal tendons which causes irritation, especially if done long term.
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