3 causes for gluteus medius pain (and how to fix them).

Do you have gluteus medius pain? If the side of your hip always feels achy and tight then you probably do.

It might not seem like it right now but tension in this area of your body can teach you a lot about your movement. Your nervous system is constantly looking for the best way to move around the world.

You will move with what you have available to you. Stiffness and achiness is a sign that something up or down stream is not operating efficiently.

In this article, I’ll share 3 main reasons why your gluteus medius might be acting up. Even more importantly, I’ll explain exactly what you should do if you suspect you fall into one of these categories.

Getting Gluteus Medius Pain Relief through Movement Balance

The first cause for gluteus medius pain is imbalance in the body. Many people often believe that the area that hurts is often where the problem is.

But the body works as a whole, not one muscle or joint at a time. Hip tension can be a result of a shoulder restriction, or vice versa. The same is true about the ankles, knees and all other load bearing joints in the body.

It is natural to hyper-focus on the symptomatic area. But as most people quickly discover, this often has the opposite effect. By pulling and prodding on an already sensitive area, you risk aggravating the gluteus medius even more. 

You don’t want to neglect the painful muscle or joint but you similarly don’t want to neglect all your other muscles and joints either. To get an idea of how this phenomenon works, I recommend you perform some simple mobility drills, starting with the ankles.

The feet and ankles have a strong influence on how the hips move and feel. The hips will do what the feet and ankles cannot.

If the muscles around the ankle cannot rotate, then the hip muscles will try to do it instead. If the hips cannot rotate, then the ankles and feet will try to do so instead.

As mentioned earlier, the shoulders and hips also have a strong relationship. Try some shoulder circles demonstrated below and see how your hips feel afterwards.

It doesn’t stop with the ankles and shoulders either. The muscles around your pelvis, spine and knees will all influence how your gluteus medius functions.

When you’re having trouble with a particular muscle, it’s tempting to only focus on that muscle. It’s the natural first step and I did it myself for many years. But eventually, it becomes clear that this type of isolationist approach to movement is not effective or sustainable.

Targeted Gluteus Medius Pain Stretches

The second cause for gluteus medius pain is extreme tightness. Although movement balance should be the priority, there are times when muscles become so tense that they are in dire need of stretching.

It’s important to note that stretching is a temporary solution. You will need to eventually zoom out and explore how your whole body moves in order to see permanent changes.

However, for some people, it’s difficult to see much improvement in how their hips feel until they loosen them up a bit. In my experience, there is no better stretch for the gluteus medius than the hip twist stretch.

The beauty of this stretch is that it helps create separation between the pelvis and hips. Joints can get a bit sticky if we don’t give them the movement stimulus they need. This will not only help how the hips function but the pelvis too. 

You can do this stretch in addition to the ankle and shoulder mobility work in the first section. Combining these two interventions will compound your results and is a great short exercise routine you can do a few times a week.

The Gluteus Medius and Back or Knee Pain

The last and final cause for gluteus medius pain is the one you likely want to hear about the least - your brain.

All pain comes from the brain. Whether it’s muscle pain, joint pain or migraines. Your brain senses a threat in your internal or external environment and brings it to your attention via the nervous system.

This is a good thing and without this mechanism, you wouldn’t survive for very long. But sometimes this alerting system can be a bit too sensitive.

This is especially true for chronic pain conditions. If you’ve had gluteus medius pain for months or years then you would fall into this category.

I’ve been creating content and working with students in hip pain for years now and have learned that this is the most overlooked factor for most people.

I love exercise and think it’s one of the most potent interventions we can take for better health and movement. But it has its limitations.

I used to believe that exercise can fix all my pain problems. It was a rude awakening when I finally admitted to myself that it cannot.

The people who I am able to help the most are the ones that embrace this truth. They are also the ones that reach their physical goals the fastest.

If you’re reading this article in hopes of fixing your back, knee, hip or whatever other joint pain, then I highly recommend you examine your psychological relationship with pain. My ebook is a great place to start.

Closing

Focus on how your WHOLE body moves and don’t neglect your psychology. This is the key in overcoming gluteus medius pain or any other other chronic pain pattern.

Avoid the common trap of putting too much focus on the area that hurts. This might be useful when you’re working on a machine but not when you’re healing a living breathing organism.

Pain and tightness in a muscle is a signal from your mind and body. In today’s technological world it is becoming more difficult to listen to these messages. But if you pay attention, you can learn more about yourself than any instagram post or blog.