Think you have a trapped nerve and have pain in your back/buttocks?

A ‘pain in the bum’ can be quite painful and limit you from doing your usual activities. Finding the cause of your pain is crucial to alleviating it. The causes may be one of those listed below:

Muscle or tendon pain
There are quite a few muscles in the bum, and all collectively know as the gluteal muscles or “gluts”. When you walk, run, or lunge you use these muscles and if these muscles/tendons are injured then everyday activities can be painful. You may also notice pain if you lie on that side in bed. A pain in the bum can be really debilitating and not only cause pain but  limit daily activities and affect your quality of life.

Referred pain.
This is when you feel pain in area, but it is coming from somewhere else in the body. Typically, when pain is referred into the gluteal region it is from the back muscles or joints or the sacroiliac joints. Could it be that joints in your back are inflamed or degenerating?

Radicular pain (‘trapped nerve’)
This is where the nerve that supplies the gluteal muscle is the problem. This complaint is quite often called ‘sciatica’. It may be that the nerve is being compressed by an intervertebral disc. Or it may be that the nerve itself is being compressed by body weight or that the nerve is stretched.

• Pain can be present sitting and walking.
• If it is due to a disc compression, then pain is often worse in the morning and when changing positions (sitting to standing for example).
• If you have ‘sciatica’ you should not elevate your legs when in a chair as this will make you feel more pain in the long run.

If you are struggling with a pain in the bum, then getting a diagnosis is important. There are lots of potential causes for this problem, so this means there are different treatments needed depending on the cause.

For example, a nerve (radicular pain) is associated with severe pain and responds to some pain medications and any Physiotherapy intervention must be gentle and targeted to the cause of the pain. People often find massage aggravates a ‘nerve’ pain.

At Atherton Physiotherapy and Sports injury Clinic we can diagnose the cause of the pain in the back/bum and confidently prescribe certain exercises and coupled with our advice, we can help to get this pain under control quickly.