Trochanteric Bursitis

What is trochanteric bursitis?

In simple terms – trochanteric bursitis is inflammation of the bursa on the outside of your hip bone. The bursa is like a water cushion that helps protect a tendon from rubbing on bone. So, a bursa is an important bit of kit. If you get sore lying on your side at night and if you’re struggling to walk up/down hills and steps – this could be your problem. Trochanteric bursitis is often accompanied by the lovely sensation of referred pain down the outside of your leg, buttock pain and sometimes an ache into the outside of your shin. Fun times!

Why does trochanteric bursitis happen?

This is where it gets a bit tricky. It’s more likely if you’re a woman, in menopause, overweight or changed your exercise intensity recently (went on holiday to the Gold Coast and decided to walk around Every.Single.Theme.Park.) Trochanteric Bursitis is very closely linked with another problem: gluteal tendinopathy (aka dodgy bum tendon). Often the cause happens like this: weak bum muscles > outside hip tendon gets stressed > this squashes the bursa > inflammation and pain (and no sleep).

What can you do about trochanteric bursitis? Trochanteric Bursitis Physiotherapy in Newcastle.

1. Get your hip moving. The front of your hip is probably stiffer than an old parmesan. So gentle stretching out will help. Try warrior yoga poses or butterfly stretching. Get the groin muscles, the hip flexors and even the joint itself to move. Hands-on physio might help to get your hip moving faster and get results quicker. 2. Get your bum strong. Getting some decent buttocks will improve the load on the outside of the hip. Be careful though! These trochanteric bursas are easily grumpified so take it easy and start small. Pay particular attention to a muscle called gluteus medius – its a key player for this condition. 3. Decrease the load. If you keep forcing your hip to walk up very steep hills because ‘no pain no gain’. Your trochanteric bursitis will very likely take a long long long time to improve. Don’t rest completely (bad) but don’t overcook the exercise (also bad). 4. Look further up the chain. This one is further afield and you might need your physio to explain this to you but if your upper back is very stiff, it can make it really hard to make your bum work well – so stretch it/mobilise it/get your physio to push it. 5. Stop stretching your bum! This is not a bottom muscle length issue but a loading issue. So stretching might actually make it worse!

How long will trochanteric bursitis take?

5-6 weeks should see you starting to improve – especially if it’s a fresh issue. If it’s been there for a good while because you’ve sort of ‘expected it to get better by itself’ (and now its 18 months later) it might take 3-6 months to really start feeling better. If the bum muscles are really dodgy – it might be more like 6 months than 3. But it will get better!