Do you frequently experience soreness and tingling pain in your glutes whenever you stand up or sit down?
Well, this might indicate having a misalignment of the pelvic that’s making every physical moment painful and unbearable for you. Assuming that the pain will disappear just by taking bed rest will not help ease the pain.
Chiropractic treatment offers drills that are done with the primary purpose of relaxing the contracted or misaligned muscles. Repetitive performance of these moments restore the damaged muscle and bring back its flexibility and strength. In this blog, we will understand how to self-mobilize your pelvis.
- Pelvic misalignment or pelvic tilt is when the pelvis bone gets misaligned or tilted onto the adjacent side.
- Being connected to the spine in the lower back region, misalignment of the pelvis destabilizes the entire body posture. As a result, it leads to a lack of mobility and strength in the lower body.
- A misaligned pelvis bone triggers a tingling and shooting pain in the lower back region that shoots down to the hip area (in Glutes muscles).
- This ravaging pain can demobilize legs and hamstring muscles if left unnoticed.
- In the worst-case scenario, pelvic misalignment can create excruciating discomfort even while just sitting on a chair or doing a brisk walk on some hard surface.
- Some major causes behind pelvic misalignment are improper posture and neglecting healthy lifestyle choices.
- One of the primary causes behind pelvic tilt is having a huge belly. In addition, due to being overweight, the pelvic bone leans forward in the direction of the heavy belly.
- Over time, owing to obesity, the pelvic muscle gets collapsed and moves out of its actual position, thus leading to pelvic misalignment.
- In most cases wherein pregnant women go through specific postural imbalances and lower back issues, this cause is the main culprit.
- Specific other musculoskeletal issues such as muscle imbalance and a weak scapula can also be held responsible for disturbing the alignment of the pelvic bone.
- Other causes of pelvic misalignment are:
- Overtraining lower body muscles.
- Sitting on a chair or couch for a prolonged period.
- Not relaxing and stretching the lower body muscles properly.
- Compromising form and technique and lifting recklessly heavyweight
- The misalignment of the pelvic bone can happen in various ways. Pelvic tilts are classified as follows.
- Anterior Pelvic Tilt
- Posterior Pelvic Tilt
- Lateral Pelvic Tilt
- In the case of anterior pelvic tilt, the pelvic bone gets tilted forward. It is caused due to the shortening of the hip flexors and the lengthening of the hip extensors simultaneously.
- A high level of lethargy in one’s lifestyle leads to anterior pelvic tilt. It drastically affects the spine’s position and disturbs the overall body posture by causing an extensive arc in the lower back.
- During the posterior pelvic tilt, the rear part of the pelvis rises upwards, and the back part drops down.
- This misalignment with the pelvis exerts intense pressure on the lower back. Often, this leads to sciatica pain as well.
- Significant imbalance in the hip muscles is the principal cause behind lateral pelvic tilt.
- An asymmetrical posture runs down throughout the lower body, thus making one muscle group stronger or weaker adjacent side.
- Your chiropractor will recommend you include a couple of exercises in your daily routine to strengthen your collapsed pelvis.
- Here are a few exercises that will help you self-mobilize your pelvis.
- Half-kneeling hip flexor stretch:
- Sit down in a lunging position with the knee of your preceding leg resting on the ground.
- Contract your pelvis forward by squeezing your glutes and abdominal muscles.
- Feel the stretch in your inner thigh and the glutes. Hold it for 30 seconds.
- Do at least five sets of it with each leg.
- This drill serves to mitigate the muscle tightness that has got accumulated in the pelvis. It increases the hip joint flexibility and the range of motion, besides relaxing the hip flexors.
- Bridge: To strengthen the pelvis and the lower back, chiropractors ensure to have included this exercise as part of rehab for treating the misaligned/tilted pelvis.
- Lie down on your back with your body relaxed. Make sure to use a soft mattress.
- Bend both of your knees so that they face upwards. Don’t lift your heels while doing so.
- Now lift your lower back region and glutes upwards while pushing your heels on the ground to have an intact position.
- Hold the position for at least 5 seconds. Repeat it 8-10 times
- Ensure to keep your glutes and abdominal tight and filled with inhaled air.
- Don’t overarch or over lift the back.
- Free Weight Squats: By targeting the entire lower body, squats restore strength in glutes, hamstrings, and quads. It also works on improving muscle-mind coordination of the body.
- Stand straight with your feet placed shoulder-width apart and pointing outwards.
- Squat down while maintaining the neutrality of the spine.
- Once your hamstrings and glutes come parallel to the ground, lift the entire body using the quads (thigh muscles).
- Hold the squatting position for at least a second.
- Inhale as you go down and exhale when you reach back to the starting position.
- Keep your abdominals tight for a stable form.
- Do at least three sets of 10-15 reps with sufficient rest in-between the sets.
- The chiropractor supervises recovery progress periodically to ensure a healthy and long-term recovery from the pain.
- For individuals suffering from pelvis tilt pain, here are a few tips that you need to follow:
- Avoid sitting or being physically inactive for too long.
- Don’t sit or walk with hunched shoulders and a forward-leaning head.
- Do icing/heat therapy.
- Don’t lift too heavyweight during the phase of rehabilitation.
- Focus on proper diet and nutritional intake.
Conclusion
These chiropractic drills and exercises target releasing the tightness and muscle tension accumulated in the pelvis region.
When done consistently with proper form and technique, it improves the flexibility of the hip joints and stabilizes their position to normal.
Book an appointment with CRM Wellness to avail chiropractic treatment from the leading Los Angeles chiropractor.
Click here to read: How To Treat & Relieve Spondylolisthesis Pain with Chiropractic Treatment?