constant pain.... from turning out?

[Guest dancinsweetie]

Hi everyone! In class i have to work really hard to turn out because i don't have very flexible hip joints. At least one time a week, I wake up the morning after a ballet class feeling really sore in my behind area. (like on the side lol) My teacher says that it's a good thing and it means i'm working hard. Is this true?and why does it keep coming back? I thought that by now i would have developed enough strength so that it wouldn't hurt as much.

[Victoria Leigh]

If it is in the gluteus muscle, then I would not worry about it, as long as it is not affecting anything else. Probably just using the muscle more. If there is pain in the hip joint itself, or in the back anywhere, that would be a different story.

[Guest pointemonky]

sometimes I am sore after a class too. Especially after I work especially hard or we do a new strech. I told my teacher and asked if it was normal and she said I was using more or different muscels and that it would help to make me stronger. It is just your bodies way of telling you that your working your muscels hard!

[Guest dancinsweetie]

Thanks for the fast replies! Ms. Leigh-the pain is in the gluteus muscle so i'm not that worried. Pointemonkey-your teacher's response makes sence because i have been working extra hard in class lately.

[Mel Johnson]

I sometimes get those, and call them the "two-cheek creak". I get that when I do character after a long time off. Nothing to worry about. If it were in the front, now that would be a different matter.

[BlackbirdBallerina]

What exactly do you mean by "in the front", Mr. Johnson? The hip-flexors?

I have tight hip-flexors a lot, but the only thing that actually hurts much is what I guess is my IT band, mainly from its location on the side of my hip. I get a sharp pain in it sometimes when trying to turn out, i think perhaps when I've been actively rotating but then I forget the active part of roataion for a bit, and then my legs have to take up the slack elsewhere.

Did that make sense? sorry if not, my mind is rather shot right now... lol

[Guest kitrisomeday]

sometimes i feel pain there too, and if we are talking about the same muslce, this is what i do:

 

sit in the "pretzel position" on the floor. pull one of your legs close to your chest while still sitting in that position. meanwhile, turn your upperbody towards that leg that you are pulling towards your chest

 

hope that was comprehensible!

[Mel Johnson]

The IT is something else entirely, as are the hip flexors. I was talking more about things around the trochanter of the femur, like bursitis, that sometimes has bothered me. Pesky-painful!

[xxjan3rz]

Lately I've been getting that pain too. However, I've recently started dancing at a new place at the barre in my studio, and since it's right opposite a mirror I've really got a chance to check out my turnout and improve it. This, in turn, has made me VERY sore around my hip/butt muscles. It "hurts so good" though, since I know that I'm working hard and that my turnout is improving!

I don't think it's anything to worry about, unless it feels like you ripped something. I hope you feel better soon!

-xxjan3rz

[Guest Pigeon]

Be careful!!

That "butt pain" can turn into something awful if you are not aware of what it is.

It may not be just the "glutes" -- there is a muscle called the Piriformis, deep in the buttocks, underneath the glutes, that rotates the leg outwards. It runs from the base of the spine and attaches to the thigh bone (femur). The sciatic nerve runs very close to this muscle and sometimes even through it. You can find out more about it simply by doing an internet search with the words, "Piriformis muscle."

 

Through what my physicians and physical therapist called "repetitive irritation," the over-stretching, pulling or tearing of the piriformis muscle caused intense pressure on my sciatic nerve, and the pain in my butt, leg and foot was excruciating for more than a month. Recently, I was in bed for 17 days, icing my butt and hamstrings, unable to sit, stand, or walk. I just completed the physical therapy, and will try to return to ballet class next week.

 

The caution here is this: work through pain only if you're feeling a dull, kind-of "ache." If you have any sharp pain in your butt or hamstring, STOP. If you feel any tingling down your leg, especially into your toes, see a physician immediatley. Be smart-- don't ignore warning signals.

[Mel Johnson]

Right, but almost always, the dull achies on the side of the tusch is nothing to worry about. Sometimes, pain is our friend. It tells us when something is wrong. Learning to tell how and what is wrong, and how serious or not it is, is part of becoming a dancer.

[aletheia146]

I've had similar pain (maybe I should say aches) and it feels like its under my knee. I typically feel it in modern when we put our hands on the floor standing in a turned in position, then plié and turn out while still bending forward, then slowly straighten the knees and roll up (hope that makes sense). Is it the sciatic nerve? Am I doing something wrong, because it feels like I have to turn out more to "click" it back in the right place, but I can't, and it's pretty annoying.

[Mel Johnson]

That doesn't sound like true neuralgia (nerve pain) to me. It sounds more like tight cartilage at the back of the knee. Just keep stretching, slooooowly and gently.

[aletheia146]

Thanks, Mr. Johnson. Do you have any recommendations of how to stretch? It never hurts except in those positions.

[Mel Johnson]

Then the answer is self-evident. Take it easy in those positions. Skip them, if necessary to avoid pain.