How is your butt contributing to your back pain

When it comes to determining what is causing your back pain, it may be worth taking a look at your butt. The network of nerves in the lower back is complex, including the sciatic nerve, which extends from the lower back down to the feet. What starts out as impingement in one region, or spinal instability, or muscle weakness, can easily refer pain to another, as is the case with the gluteus medius.  

The role of the gluteus medius

 

Hip abduction refers to the motion of raising your leg up to the side of your body, the essential movement involved in walking and running. The gluteus medius is a main contributor to hip abduction; as you walk or run, your gluteus medius muscles work in tandem to maintain a level pelvis and stabilize the lower back. It works like this:

• As you raise a leg to take a step, the opposing gluteus medius contracts in order to prevent the additional weight of the free leg from tilting the pelvis down to that side.

If your gluteus medius is weak, this additional weight will cause the pelvis to tilt down the opposing side, causing instability in the base of the spine, hip dysfunction and, quite often, pain in the lower back. 

What we do about butt and lower back pain in Hackensack

At Associates in Chiropractic, our first priority is to provide you with an accurate diagnosis as to what exactly is causing your pain. If we diagnosis weakness and dysfunction in the gluteus medius, we set a course for strengthening the muscles through hip abduction exercises to prevent the additional weight from causing an imbalanced pelvis. We address any misalignment in the lower spine with chiropractic adjustment and focus on strength of the uspportive muscles to maintain a stable spine, good posture and full range of motion. If you are interested in determining the cause of your literal pain in the butt, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today.