A Physio’s Fix for Feeling Great: is staying home turning into a (literal) pain in your butt?

Rikhi Anandsongkit and his team give you tips to counter butt pain while you #wfh.

More screen and couch time are destroying our bodies!

When working from home, many of us are spending more time on the phone, on laptops, and even watching TV. Unfortunately, most of our home offices are not set up as well as our offices, so we're hunched over and leaning forward more than ever – and it's becoming a pain in the butt, quite literally!

One person we spoke to thought that the pain was due to the hard chair he was sitting on. So, he added a cushion and even tried to sit on a sofa chair to do his work. Unfortunately, the pain in his butt just got worse.

After consulting Dr. Google, he thought that maybe he had 'piriformis syndrome,' which is a spasm in one of the muscles located in the butt. He started doing some stretches that he found online, and although the pain in his butt subsided a little, it spread to the back of his thigh. After a few days, he woke up with a sharp pain in his back and that's when he came in for an assessment, where we found that the source was his lower back – all the extra sitting was putting pressure on his back and nerves.

It is very common to have a back problem and not experience back pain.

Back problems can show itself in your butt, thigh, or legs, and can often be confused with tight muscles that "just need to be stretched." The problem is, if you do the wrong stretches or if you stretch too much, you can make the problem worse and as a result, trigger back pain – often severe, and seemingly out of nowhere!

Three things that could be effective in easing (not fixing) butt pain caused by sitting are:

1. Get up and move more often!
   Movement is medicine. Make it a habit to get up and walk around your house or go get a glass of water every 15-20 minutes.
2. Glute Bridges
   Lie face up on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Keep your arms at your side, with your palms facing down. Lift your hips off the floor until your knees, hips, and shoulders form a straight line. Hold this position for 2-3 seconds and slowly go back down. Be sure to keep your back as straight as possible when doing this. Repeat 12 times and three sets.

1. Clamshells
   Lie on your right side with your feet and hips stacked, your knees bent 90 degrees, and your head resting on your right arm. Draw your knees in toward your body until your feet are in line with your butt. Place your left hand on your left hip to ensure it doesn't tilt back, and squeeze your abs while keeping your feet together. Raise your left knee as far as you can without rotating your hip or lifting your right knee off the floor. Hold for 1 second, squeeze your glutes, and slowly lower your knee back to the starting positon. Repeat 15 times, then do the same on the other side. Do this three times.

However, it's important to remember that pain in the body can't be fixed without a thorough examination and a real understanding of the root cause of the pain. So just as you go to the garage to get your car fixed, it's important to find someone who understands your body and can find that root cause, such as our team at Form Physio and Rehab.

Rikhi Anandsongkit is the owner of Form Physio and Rehab, a physiotherapy clinic that helps adults in Bangkok get back to doing the things they love without painkillers, injections, and surgeries. You can contact him or his team of physiotherapists via:
Email: info@formphysiorehab.com 
Tel: 0955693298 
www.formphysiorehab.com