Inflammed gluteus minimus

Hi,
I am a cyclist and am suffering with a inflammed gluteus minimus. It dosen't seem to be getting any better, if anything it has gotten worse since I was forced to stop cycling two weeks ago. I took diclofenac and iced my gluteus for two days but it seems to be getting worse now.

My symptoms are as follows:

1. Pain when cycling
2. Pain radiates down my leg
3. Pain doing one leg squats
4. Pain when I sit and collapse/slump my lower back
5. Pain is very bad in the morning but improves alot through out the day to the point that I can do one legged squats with out any pain.

My physio reckons it is an inflammed gluteus minimus/ pseudosciatica. He is on holidays now so can't see him for over a week so just wanted to see what people on here think. How long does it generally take for the inflammation to go away? I have had it for a while so is there any point continuing with the anti inflamatories and ice?

Seen as you've been told what the actual problem is it makes it a bit easier to give advice... given the area of your symptoms etc it wouldnt surprise me if your piriformis had tightened up and this could be a potential source of your pain radiating down the leg as the sciatic nerve runs through it. Rather than me trying to explain a stretch, google a stretch for the piriformis and you'll get nice pictures etc. Its definitely worth a try while you wait. If you're physio reckons theres inflammation then i'd keep icing it after exercise, but im assuming you've already discussed modifying your training in the mean time to allow the inflammation time to settle down... sometimes you have to take one step back to take 2 forward.

No it's definitely not the piriformis. Intially that was a bit tight but it has losened out now. I can't really do any exercise bar walking and swiming. It's not sciatica in so far as it gets better throughout the day. Could needle theraphy help losen it out as it is in spasm for most of the day?

Ok, well keep doing all your stretches to prevent anything from tightening up then but the fact its sore in the morning and loosens off does suggest things are tightening up a lot quicker than they should. Have you had your back cleared? It's all very well treating symptoms but you need to work out whats causing it to really knock it in the head. Thats where nobody on the internet is going to be able to help you as much as someone doing a face to face exam. If your physio is back next week you need to get in and see him asap, he'd want to know if its getting worse and will modify the treatment accordingly. To be honest, i don't want to start suggesting treatment methods other than simple things (I don't know you or enough about whats causing your symptoms and when someone comes in expecting a certain treatment because they heard this or that when you know its not the immediate priority for them, its a nuisance). You have your physio and i'm quite happy to give you simple advice in the mean time, but in my opinion you should be discussing needle therapy (or any other techniques that might apply) with him - as he knows your case.

So my advice (others might chip in, who knows!):

Book in to see your physio asap as you're getting worse. Avoid aggrivating activities in the mean time as if its acute inflammation, you need to give it time and space to settle. If you do aggrivate it then ice it. If any of the exercises your physio gave you are making it worse then take them out for a couple of days and see if that makes a difference. Its all about narrowing things down until you are left with the answer. If your glutes are in constant spasm it'll hurt and im sure your physio will treat that as he sees fit.

Thanks for the long reply. I kind of knew I wouldn't be able to get concrete help here. My back has been cleared but the route cause has not been pin pointed yet. I booked myself in with another physio next week just to get another set of eyes on it.

Hi !!
I have read through your problem ..I would advice you to do the gleuts stretch,hams steretch, quads stretsh with the piriformis stretch at night before you hit the sack ..
This would help you reduce the pain and stifness in the morning and your pain will definately go off .. just give yourself another 3 days time and keep stretching 3 times a day ..
1st set of stretch before you get off the bed to brush
2nd set in the noon
3rd set before you go off to sleep ..
You follow this and it would really help you ..
Regards ,
Radhika

Hi,
Should I really be streching before I even get out of bed? Surely that is streching when cold? I was told this was at best a waste of time and at worst - potentially damaging. Thanks for the advice nonetheless. I'll keep this thread uptodate with my progress.

Hi !!
Really you should stretch before u are out of your bed in the morning and before you go off to sleep at night .. Trust me ,It works wonders .. There's nothing to damage while doing a stretch , infact it'll be even more relaxing for your lower back and bum..Try it for your self for 2 days and you'll feel the difference...
Regards,
Radhika

Well if the problem keep recurring back you should consider a USG Scan to rule out bursitis or an inflamed tendon and if you do find out such a inflammed tendon then the needful can be done meanwhile mild ROM Exercises should help Stretching W/o supervision is not advised

hi Sharpcatch,

I know you have been examined and the physio thinks it is an inflamed glut min but how did the physio decide? Were there any scans done? Why glut min and not glut med?

It is such a small but significant muscle and in my experience, no muscle ever acts on its own so who is its partner? Which other muscle is also playing up?

Inflammation can take a while to settle down, especially if you keep aggravating it.

For example, your hip might be gliding forwards when it should be spinning instead. Have you hopped on your bike and taken a video of yourself? If not, prop your bike up on a practice stand and film your self from in front, the side and behind. A good technique should mean that your torso basically shouldn't move much...all the action should be from the legs. And then your legs should be pistoning in a straight line, not going in curves towards and away from the centre of the bike...etc etc.

There are many possible problems causing your pain...glut min wasn't the first one that came to my mind :)