In this video, I'm going to demonstrate to you how to use a massage ball to foam roll or massage your
own glutes. But first of all, we’re gonna look at times when you should really not be massaging
your glutes – when it can actually make your pain or your discomfort worse. We'll also look at what
times are the correct times to use self massage. And then finally, I'll explain to you what the
research is showing with regards to how long you should do it for or what methods you should be
using. So, for those of you don't know me, my name is Maryke. I'm one of the physiotherapists from
sports-injury-physio.com, where you can get online physiotherapy assessment as well as treatment for
your injuries. Have a look at the description of this video if you want a link to our website.
Why would it sometimes not be useful to massage your own glutes with a massage ball? Well, to be
honest, this counts for manual massage as well. The first instance is if your glutes are injured
in that they have a muscle tear in them. When you tear muscles, you actually rupture some of
the muscle fibres and the cells, and that area is quite sensitive and not very strong. So, if you
go in and use a strong massage ball or somebody really digs into your glute with their fingers,
it can make that injury worse. Second, if you've got a gluteal tendinopathy. So, that's where the
tendons that attach the glute muscles onto the bone become injured and quite sensitive.
If you apply hard pressure over them, it usually also just ends up making it worse, so be careful
of that. Also, if you have a bursitis, which … Wherever your glute tendons or tendons in your
body come close to the bone - and especially for the glutes, it's on the side, where you can feel
that bony prominence - if your bursa in that area's irritated and you go and do massage on
it where you press really hard into it, it will actually make it flare up more, because bursitis
is caused by too much compression in that area. So, be careful with that as well. And then lastly,
sometimes the pain can be actually be referred pain from your lower back, which then makes the
piriformis muscle really tight and painful and sensitive. Now ... and it's ... That sensitivity
is created by the sciatic nerve that runs through your buttock that's irritated. Now, if you go and
hammer the piriformis or the sciatic nerve; if it's already irritated and really sensitive,
that can make it worse sometimes. So, again, be careful with that. But the key is,
if you are gentle with the massage, and you test it out gently first and see how it reacts,
that will tell you whether massage is a good way to go or not. But please check with your
physio before you start any of this. When can you massage your glutes? Well, it can be really useful
if your muscles are just tight because you've done some exercises you're not used to, or you've
just done a good training session yesterday, and they're just feeling a bit of that muscle soreness
from exercise. If that's the case, massaging then can make them feel a lot more comfortable.
There's also research that shows if you massage your glutes after a training session,
you can decrease the discomfort you feel the next day. So, that delayed onset muscle soreness – DOMS
we call it – you can help decrease that a bit. So, there's another reason why it's useful. So,
be careful to massage an injured muscle. But if it's not injured, just exercise related,
absolutely go for it! What's the best method to use? To be honest, there's no gold standard with
regards to this. They've not shown that one method is better than the other in the research. So,
it's a little bit of trial and error, but they usually spend about two minutes per muscle group,
so, two minutes per side. And they either use that they do ... kind of roll on it, which I find a bit
uncomfortable – you'll see in the next clip. Or they use point pressure, where they just sustain
pressure for a period of time and then move on to the next uncomfortable spot. And that's the method
I tend to use more. And you spend about 30 to 60 seconds on an uncomfortable spot and then move on
to the next. But yes, I demonstrate that in the next clip. OK, so to massage your own glutes,
I tend to use a tennis ball, because I find I can get into my glutes more easily. I don't really
find a foam roller is effective for myself, but you can try whatever you want. What I will say
is, just be gentle with it. Because remember, sciatic nerve runs right in the middle of your
buttock, so, through or underneath the piriformis muscle. And if you're too aggressive with it, you
can make the piriformis go into a spasm, and that can actually cause sciatic pain down your leg,
so be gentle with it, okay? So, there are two versions. The first is a little bit more
aggressive, and it's on the floor. And essentially all you’re going to do is, you’re going to aim
to get … If you can feel your bone there, and then the top of the pelvic bone there - so, the hip
bone, everybody calls it - it's kind of in that area that you want to be in the squishy bits.
And literally you're going to angle yourself that the ball is in there,
you're going to lie into it and just relax into it, and then just move it onto different spots.
I tend to not roll at the beginning, because mine's always quite sensitive, but you could also
just roll it along it. There's really no right or wrong with this type of thing, because we've not
really established what works better than anything else. So, it's literally just that that you do.
And at this point, I can feel there's a tender spot, and I'll relax the leg that I'm on - I like
to prop it up a bit - and just angle my body, that I get a bit more pressure through there,
and then you can move around as you go. That's quite tender! So, you just ease off a little bit.
There we go! So, you can hold that pressure for about 30 seconds or until you feel
that it's calming down, going away, and then you can move on to the next bit and just put some
pressure on there. And then, once you've done that for a bit and you feel you've covered the
whole glute area, everything that's tender, you can then roll it and put some weight through that.
But yeah, I prefer to do the holds first and then the rolling bit. But you may want to do it the
other way around. Now, if your glutes are really, really sensitive, you can do it against the wall.
Let me just see if I fit into the picture. Yes, that's fine! I'm gonna shift that away for now.
So, the leg that's by the wall is going to be relaxed. So, I'm putting the ball
in between the wall and my glute, where I want to be on it. And this leg is pressing into the wall.
This one's totally relaxed, so that the ball can actually get into it. Because otherwise, if you
contract this one as well, you can't really get into the glutes.
And it's exactly the same thing. I'm just guiding it with my hand, but I'm pushing into the wall at
a pressure that's comfortable for me. And then you can just move around and roll it as well if you
want to. Nice, slow, long strokes. But the whole time I'm aiming for ‘comfortably uncomfortable’,
not painful, and definitely not to the point where I get referral down the leg
or where I feel I want to pull a face. Excellent! Hope you found that useful. And remember,
if you need more help with an injury, you're welcome to consult one of us via
video call – the link to the website in the description of this video. Take care!