If your hip has been giving you cheek lately, it might not just be sitting too long or a dodgy mattress to blame. One sneaky culprit is gluteus medius tendinopathy – a condition that can make every step, stair, or night’s sleep feel like a challenge. If this sounds familiar, it may be time to call 9598 5334 and book an appointment with the osteopaths at The Osteo Clinic. We’re here to help.

Meet the gluteus medius – your hip’s unsung hero

The gluteus medius is a fan-shaped muscle located on the outer surface of the pelvis. It plays a critical role in stabilising the pelvis when standing, walking, or running. The tendon of the gluteus medius attaches to the greater trochanter of the femur (the large bony lump on the side of your thigh bone).

When the tendon gets grumpy

Tendinopathy refers to pain and dysfunction in a tendon, usually related to overuse, repetitive stress, or degenerative changes. In the case of the gluteus medius, tendinopathy often causes pain on the outer hip, which may worsen when lying on the affected side, climbing stairs, or walking long distances.

Why does it happen?

Gluteus medius tendinopathy can arise from:

• Repetitive stress, such as long-distance walking or running
• Sudden increases in activity levels
• Poor biomechanics, including hip or pelvic instability
• Muscle weakness in the gluteal region
• Age-related changes in tendon structure

It is also commonly seen in association with greater trochanteric pain syndrome, an umbrella term for pain conditions affecting the outside of the hip.

Spotting the signs

Typical symptoms of gluteus medius tendinopathy include:

• Pain on the outside of the hip
• Discomfort when lying on the affected side
• Pain during activities such as stair climbing or long walks
• Tenderness over the greater trochanter (which is the prominent, bony bump on the outside of the femur)

How osteopathy may help get you moving again

Osteopathic care aims to address both the local tendon pain and the broader contributing factors. Treatment may involve:

• Gentle manual therapy to improve hip and pelvic mobility
• Exercises to strengthen the gluteus medius and surrounding muscles
• Advice on activity modification to reduce strain on the tendon
• Postural and gait assessment to identify contributing biomechanical issues

By improving strength, mobility, and alignment, osteopathy works to reduce pain and promote more efficient movement patterns.

What you can do at home

Alongside osteopathic treatment, some strategies may help manage symptoms:

• Avoiding prolonged lying on the affected side
• Performing prescribed strengthening and stretching exercises
• Gradually returning to higher levels of activity

Time to call your local osteopath

If hip pain is interfering with your sleep, mobility, or ability to exercise, it is important to seek professional advice. Osteopaths are trained to assess musculoskeletal conditions and provide individualised care to support recovery.

If you suspect you may have gluteus medius tendinopathy, don’t wait for it to get worse. Call 9598 5334 today to book an appointment with the osteopaths at The Osteo Clinic. And don’t forget to follow us on social media for more tips on staying healthy and active. We’re on Facebook and Instagram.

Information provided here (including text, graphics, images, outbound links, and other material) is for informational purposes only. It is general in nature and is not to be used or considered as a substitute for personalised professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your qualified allied health provider regarding any symptoms, medical conditions, or treatments and before undertaking any new health care regimen.

Are you struggling with pain that just won’t go away? Perhaps you’ve been told that your imaging shows there’s nothing wrong even though it feels like there’s definitely something wrong? Maybe you’ve been through so many treatment providers but gotten nowhere? You may feel like no matter what you do your pain seems to come back to that same place over and over again and it may feel like the area is sensitized. Keep reading to discover the reasons why your pain could be lingering beyond normal healing time and what you could be doing to improve it.

What is Chronic Pain?

People injure themselves every day, it’s not uncommon. Following an injury the standard time for most people to heal from their pain is around 6 weeks, sometimes up to 12 weeks. If you have pain that persists longer than 12 weeks it is then termed chronic pain.

When you have an injury such as a whiplash to your neck or chronic headaches or a lifting injury to your back, a message travels from the injury site through the nervous system and up to our brain saying – help….do something about this! A message is then sent back down to the injury site to create a local response such as pain and muscle spasm. Our brain is the part that decides how our body will respond to an injury. Imagine it’s like a flame traveling up a fuse. It goes from the injury to the spinal cord, then up to the brain. The bigger the flame is, the more pain you will feel.

Our bodies are super clever and make certain hormones (predominantly adrenalin and endorphins) that act like buckets of water to the flames. Adrenalin is our fight or flight hormone that we produce during intense and stressful situations, like when we’re running from danger. Therefore having adrenalin pumping through our bodies all the time isn’t ideal. Endorphins, however, can be produced around the clock! Endorphins are produced by exercise and by doing activities that we enjoy and that bring us a sense of achievement. This could be as simple as catching up with friends, doing arts and crafts or even mowing the lawn. The more of these buckets of water we can throw on the flames, the less pain we feel.

Unfortunately, when we’ve been in pain for a long time we generally stop doing the things that bring us joy or a sense of achievement, and we no longer create all of those buckets of water we need to put out the fire. When we’re not making buckets of water we create a negative cycle where we become sad or worried about a flare up or angry that we can’t do the things we want to do because we end up in pain. As a response our bodies create other hormones such as cortisol which we will call buckets of petrol. These buckets of petrol fuel the flames and make our pain stronger. Over time, the more pain that is produced from general activities, the more our nervous system becomes sensitized to these stimuli, resulting in more flare ups and creating a localised tissue response at the initial injury site.

Managing Chronic Pain

There are ways in which ongoing pain can be improved! General manual therapy is fantastic for reducing the symptoms of a flare up, however, if your pain has been particularly persistent you may require further investigation and management into lifestyle factors to help get you out of the pain cycle. This might include looking at your sleep, activity, and stress levels.

Firstly, find activities that bring you lots of joy and that don’t flare up your pain. That way you’re creating lots of buckets of water but no buckets of petrol!

Sleep is also incredibly important for our ability to process pain and to heal. When we are tired we don’t cope as well mentally and physically with day to day stressors. Research suggests that when we sleep well, our pain levels drop 1-1.5 points out of 10!  To improve sleep decreasing stimulation before bed may be helpful. Watch less TV, dim lights, stay off our smartphones. As adults, sleep comes in 90 minutes cycles. If you prepare for sleep before the end of each cycle by winding down and getting in to bed then you may find it easier to fall asleep. If you tend to wake up and worry overnight then it might help you to write these things down and then go over them during the day. Having a consistent wake time will help set a rhythm for your day.

It may be beneficial to monitor your stress and activity levels. Stressful situations may increase pain leading to random spikes throughout the day. Making sure you’re doing activities that promote relaxation like having a nice hot bath or practicing mindfulness and meditation may help to improve your symptoms. Doing too much of a certain activity can also lead to pain so cutting back on these activities and then building them back up slowly is a great way to decrease the hypersensitisation. For example, if you are mowing the lawn for 20 mins and you start to feel pain at 15 minutes then it may help to reduce the time to 10 minute increments, gradually increasing the time every couple of days.

If any of this resonates with you and you would like to find out more about managing your persistent pain then get in contact with Helen or any of our team at The Osteo Clinic.

If you have found yourself reading this, it is likely that you, or someone close to you, is suffering from low back pain (LBP) and you’re not alone. LBP is common, so common in fact that 84% of us will experience an acute episode over our lifetime, equally across all age groups.

LBP typically spans the area from below your rib cage to the top of your hips. It can vary in presentation, symptoms and severity. It is important to remember that while LBP is common, it is rarely dangerous and does not mean that your back is vulnerable to damage. Pain does not equal tissue damage.

References: 

The Lancet Low Back Pain Series, 2018

O’Keeffe, M.,  Griffin, D., O’Sullivan, K.,  O’Sullivan, P.,  & Maher, C.  10 myths about back pain and how to cope when it strikes 2019

By Dr Peter Sehic – Osteopath

Do you suffer from headaches? They could be coming from your jaw.

Headaches are a very common problem that people see osteopaths for. Irritated muscles and joints of the neck and shoulders can cause headaches, however, a commonly overlooked cause of headaches is the jaw.

Your jaw is comprised of a left and a right temporomandibular joint, or TMJ. If you place your fingers just in front of your ears and open and close your mouth, those are the joints that you can feel moving. The jaw is controlled by a group of muscles that help produce movement of the jaw. These are vital for speech, chewing, swallowing and facial expression.

When can it all go wrong?

The jaw can often become painful as a result of repeated teeth clenching or grinding during periods of stress. Other causes include trauma to the area, an uneven bite surface, arthritis of the jaw joint or following dental work.

Irritation to the jaw joints can result in facial pain as well as pain that radiates to the ear or teeth. The jaw muscles run along the length of the jaw, cheeks and the sides of the head. When these muscles tighten up they can cause pain in these areas, leading to a headache. Pain with chewing or yawning, clicking, locking or poor movement of the jaw may also cause headaches.

How can osteopathy help?

As osteopaths, we take you through a series of questions and a thorough physical assessment to determine the source of your headache. Once the problematic muscles/joints have been identified, we can use a range of manual therapy techniques to help decrease pain, improvement joint movement and reduce muscle tightness.

As well as the hands-on treatment, appropriate aftercare is essential in achieving a long-term result. We will provide you with exercises and advice on things to do or avoid, in order to aid recovery. For example, eating hard or chewy foods can aggravate an injured jaw and should be avoided in the short term. In some cases, referral for an orthodontic or dental assessment may be required.

Do you have jaw pain or a headache? See us today to help determine the source and solution to your pain.

Do you find you have muscle tightness, poor sleep or headaches?

Are you clenching your jaw or grinding your teeth, experiencing muscle cramps and having a poor night sleep in general? You may have a magnesium deficiency.

Bioceuticals Ultra Muscleze Night

This can be taken before bed to help promote relaxation and help relieve sleeplessness.

The combination of ingredients may help relieve nervous unrest and reduce symptoms of stress. Sour cherry is included which may improve sleep efficiency and quality, while Lactium®, a bioactive peptide, and magnesium are beneficial during times of stress. The ingredients calcium, choline and inositol help support healthy nervous system activity.

If you think you may have a magnesium deficiency speak to one of our osteopaths when you come in for your next appointment.

Ever wondered how cupping works?

Cupping is a technique that all our practitioners at The Osteo Clinic Sandringham are trained in. Cupping utilises the principle of applying a vacuum cup to the treatment area to stimulate blood flow. It is regularly used in the treatment of symptoms such as muscular and joint related pain or stiffness. Cupping helps to stretch the muscle and surrounding connective tissue, otherwise known as fascia.

Cups can be applied on one specific area or can be moved around. Mobile or gliding cupping involves the movement of the cup along the skin via the application of cream or oil. The effect is much like a reverse massage, meaning the skin and muscles aren’t compressed but rather pulled slightly up into the cup, causing increased blood flow, which in turn helps to nourish and deliver oxygen to the tissues. It also encourages the healing process with the therapeutic aim of removing congestion and decreasing pain. Fixed cupping can be used when a tight spot in a muscle is encountered. The cups are applied directly to the site of pain or dysfunction and left for a few minutes.