Hip, hamstring pain - PLEASE HELP ME

[snomys]

Hi

Again, thanks for your posting, last night I went to my first ever pilates session, and the lady there suggested I have torn hamstring. She said I need to stretch hip flexors, piriformis and have alot of hot baths with magnesium salts.

I will have session with her, every week, for 30 mins.

My job is IT, so I spend alot of time sitting each day, over many hours the pain in the left buttock comes, so I bought a memory foam cushion for my chair, but it doesnt really help much.

But for the last 6 months, I continued running in the gym, and lifting weights, I think for the next month, I will stop completely, just attend pilates, and try to stretch piriformis and hip flexors.

You are in Cyprus right? Do you ever visit London?

If after a few more months, there is no change in my condition, would it be possible to meet you, I'll pay you for your time, or even pay for you to visit London, as you can tell Im quite desperate to fix this problem.

The pilates lady suggested it can take years to overcome a hamsting injury like this, do you have any treatments I can try, or stretches?

Maybe I can come to Cyprus in a few months, I want to find a good physio, even Im using my private healthcare here in London, he suggested I just have weakened gluteals. I dont think its correct.

Should I ask for a CT or MRI scan? Will this help?

Thanks again

[Stargazer]

EDIT: I had to remove all the links due to forum rules I`ll try to pm them if that doesnt work just use picture google for "ischial tuberosity" and "hamstring insertion" and look around a bit.
EDIT2: pm sent - seems to work

Again, thanks for your posting, last night I went to my first ever pilates session, and the lady there suggested I have torn hamstring.
Should I ask for a CT or MRI scan? Will this help?

Did she do any tests to come to this conclusion? If so which ones?

Personally i find it unlikely that your hamstrings are torn off. When a muscle tears you`d expect a sudden strong pain and a strong visual haematoma. You on the other hand described your problem has developed gradually over time. And if theres only a partial tear or a strain of the hamstrings then bending your knee vs resistance should have caused your typical pain.

The only other option for Hamstring might be tendinose/tenidnitis of the upper hamstring insertion. This MIGHT not have shown when bending your knee vs resistance (although it should)
LINK

^a link showing the location of the ischial tuberosity - this is a massive bone structure which is pretty easy to find when you poke into your cheek meat from below while standing (or any other position as shown on picture) google ischial tuberosity to learn more about it

Ischial tuberosity is the point of insertion for the hamstrings(link: ) and in case of a tendinose/tendinitis it should be pretty painful when you rub the ischial tuberosity with a finger (do it on both sides! the left side should be very painful while the right side should be pain free)
^actually this really should be done by a professional - in fact id expect anyone who diagnoses hamstring issues to check the insertions for pain when pressured

I`m not an expert on medical imaging. I`m reasonably sure that with an imaging technique you should be able to rule out a tear 100% - ask a doctor/other expert on medical imaging for more information on this topic.

^the treatment i would apply in case of tendinose/tendinitis would still be the same - deep friction in gluteal area (in this case ischiadic tuberosity in specific)

She said I need to stretch hip flexors, piriformis and have alot of hot baths with magnesium salts.

I wrote this one post earlier - i`m not a big fan of stretching strained muscles - i`m even less of a fan of stretching short muscles such as piriformis
Then again many ways of treatment can lead to a good result

I`d advise you to try the treatment your physio suggests if you feel like she/he ran a decent diagnosis to come to her/his conclusion.
I`d heavily advise you to stop the stretching exercise altogether if your typical pain increases during or after any of the streching exercises. Make sure to tell your physio that her/his exercise increase your typical pain if this is the case.

But for the last 6 months, I continued running in the gym, and lifting weights, I think for the next month, I will stop completely, just attend pilates, and try to stretch piriformis and hip flexors.

Same thing as said above applies here as well. I would avoid exercises/stretches which increase your typical pain during or after the exercise

My job is IT, so I spend alot of time sitting each day, over many hours the pain in the left buttock comes, so I bought a memory foam cushion for my chair, but it doesnt really help much.
(my physio) he suggested I just have weakened gluteals. I dont think its correct.

Personally i find the idea of problems with muscles in the gluteal region to be reasonable. This doesnt necessairy have to mean your muscles are weak. (I assume you think he`s wrong because you work out a lot?)

Long sitting is a constant strain (stretch! in this case - so stretching even more seems counterproductive) on some small pelvic muscles especially if you tend to bend forward towards the PC. Plus the pressure of your body weight - this may cause these muscle to cause a variety of problems. Also The smaller gluteals arent trained very well with typical exercise such as squats.

I like the idea of a foam cushion - ideally you want to change your position around a lot while you work - for your specific problem i`d suggest trying to "lay back" in your chair so you`re almost in a "sleeping on your back" position.
^Aforementined position is not ideal for working and is horrible for your neck because your neck needs to bend forward heavily to compensate in order to look at the screen. So as mentioned before - try to change your position as much as possible and use positions which feel comfortable for you.
You should also try to change around the position of your feet because this has a big influence on the rotation of your upper leg and with that influences strain on pelvic muscles. crossing your feet under the table while your knees are bent 90degree makes the upper side of your upper leg point outward - doing the opposite which is putting your left and right foot further apart from each other each on their corresponding side makes the upper side of your upper leg point inward.

^try playing around with these positions they both reduce strain on different pelvic muscles - find the one which is most comfortable at a certain moment in time and switch around every now and then.

You are in Cyprus right? Do you ever visit London?
If after a few more months, there is no change in my condition, would it be possible to meet you, I'll pay you for your time, or even pay for you to visit London, as you can tell Im quite desperate to fix this problem.

I dont give out any real information on myself online and im not going to meet anyone i met online - sorry for that.

Please remember that i`m just a guy who just happens to be here at this point in time. Online diagnosis is A LOT worse than hands on face to face diagnosis - you should put more trust into the physio who performed an extended hands on diagnosis. I`m sure that you have a lot of Physios in the UK who know their stuff equally as well or better.

I`m happy to see that you understand that Physiotherapy is not something that helps you from one day to the next. Try to find a physio who you can trust and who runs a decent diagnosis - let him explain his thoughts to you if you want (i like doing that as you have probably noticed) and then stick with his treatment give him some feedback every few weeks and see where it takes you(If you want you can ask him to check for trigger points in your gluteal area and request a deep friction treatment if he finds any which is as i said what i`d do).

Myofascial taping in the gluteal region might also be beneficial for your problem if you can find a physio who does this (shouldnt be too hard in London i guess).


Hope you get well soon.