Gluteal Tendinopathy in Peri and Menopausal Women: Why it Happens and What Actually Helps

Written By Jo Dawson

What is Gluteal Tendinopathy?

Gluteal tendinopathy is commonly recognised by pain on the outside of the hip that is worse when you lie on it at night, during long walks or when you are sitting, crossed legged at your work desk. It is injury to the tendon that attaches two of the three glute muscles to the bone on the outside of the hip. It is common for the pain to fluctuate and to limit your ability to do activities you love like walking, hiking, running or even lying on the couch at night to watch a movie. This fluctuation in pain and the limitations the pain can bring makes this injury incredibly frustrating.

While gluteal tendinopathy can affect anyone, women are three to four times more likely to develop it when compared to men and roughly one in four women over the age of 50 will experience the injury.

Common Symptoms

Symptoms can vary depending on the individual, but often include:

  • Pain on the outer hip, usually when walking or lying on the effected side

  • Hip stiffness first thing in the morning or after sitting for long periods

  • Pain with stairs and hills (going up or down)

  • Pain with crossing your legs when sitting

  • Painful to touch

Why is Gluteal Tendinopathies More Common in Peri and Menopausal Women?

With menopause, we see a decline in oestrogen. Oestrogen helps to regulate tissue repair within our muscles and tendons as well as provide elasticity to the tissues. With a drop in the hormone, along with certain lifestyle changes that start to occur from our 30’s onwards, it becomes harder to maintain muscle and strength. With less strength than we once had and with tissues that are becoming stiffer from the reduction of oestrogen, our bodies are at risk of loading tendons more than they are capable of which leads to injury.

What Actually Helps?

The good news is, gluteal tendinopathies can improve and you can return to doing things pain free with the right approach. The key is to address the factors that led to the irritation in the first place. Often this is a load and strength issue. That is, asking too much from the tendon without the strength in the muscle to back it up.

Load Management: Assess how much exercise you are currently doing, look at things like your daily step count and determine if this went up significantly in the period 6-8 weeks before you pain started. To address this, you need to step back the amount of load to allow time for the tendon to recover.

Position Awareness: There are some common positions that aggravate tendons. Anything that stretches (crossing legs) or compresses (lying on your side) the tendon will cause pain. Be mindful of these positions and avoid as best you can.

Progressive Strengthening: Build the capacity of the muscle and tendon tissues to absorb load and resist fatigue. Think about exercises that target the Gluteus Medius muscle eg crab walks, fire hydrants, hip abduction machine etc. Start with exercises that hold the position for 20sec and then build repetitions afterwards.

Support Your Overall Health: Don’t underestimate the importance of good sleep, nutrition and stress management. Set your body up for success with an environment that can repair.

Work with a Physio: Physio’s can assess you as an individual and tailor a program and offer guidance for your specific needs. This helps to fast track your recovery and get you back to living life with less pain and more confidence sooner.

Jo Dawson