published 11/03/07
Tight Asses Studied With MRI
Researchers in Taiwan use MRI to show what happens when your gluteus maximus is really, really tight for a long time
by Paul Ingraham, Vancouver, Canada MOREclose
Credentials and qualifications
I am a writer and retired Registered Massage Therapist (unusually well-trained for a massage therapist, a 3000-hour program). I’m almost done with a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree. I am a peer reviewer for The Natural Standard, and a copyeditor for Science-Based Medicine. My most important qualification is more than a decade of workaholic post-graduate study, clinical experience, and constant conversations with readers from around the world, including many experts who have provided countless suggestions and criticisms.
For more information, see: Who Am I to Say? More information about my qualifications, credentials and professional experiences for my readers and customers.
Credentials and qualifications
I am a writer and retired Registered Massage Therapist (unusually well-trained for a massage therapist, a 3000-hour program). I’m almost done with a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree. I am a peer reviewer for The Natural Standard, and a copyeditor for Science-Based Medicine. My most important qualification is more than a decade of workaholic post-graduate study, clinical experience, and constant conversations with readers from around the world, including many experts who have provided countless suggestions and criticisms.
For more information, see: Who Am I to Say? More information about my qualifications, credentials and professional experiences for my readers and customers.
This science news is primarily for ITB syndrome patients, but also for “tight asses” in general … so, actually, quite a few people.
Last year researchers in Taiwan scanned some “tight asses” with an MRI machine. Specifically, they studied people with gluteus maximus contracture. “Contracture” is a kind of über tightness in which muscle that has been tight for too long essentially freezes in place, just like your mother warned would happen to your face if you kept making ugly faces.
The MRI results were intriguing. They found three strong patterns in the people they scanned:
- They found “an intramuscular fibrotic cord” — in other words, a dense ropy bundle of muscle embedded in the gluteus maximus.
- They found atrophy of the rest of the muscle. So, while part of the muscle essentially scars itself into permanent tightness, this does not constitute healthy exercise, and the rest of the muscle goes to pot.
- And — very important for ITB syndrome patients — they found a strong tendency to “posteromedial displacement” of the iliotibial tract. In plain English, contractured gluteus maximus muscles actually pull the iliotibial band backwards.
You too could have an “intramuscular fibrotic cord” in your derrière!
What should ITB syndrome patients take from this?
Well, that third item is rather nice scientific support for my opinion that physical therapy for ITB syndrome absolutely must address the gluteus maximus muscle (and the tensor fascia latae). Previously, it was only an extremely logical idea that the muscles that pull on the IT band were actually quite relevant to changing the tightness, position an behaviour of the IT band.
Now, science has my back! Yay, science.
Most physical therapy for iliotibial band syndrome is erroneously directed at the iliotibial band itself, trying to either stretch it or beat it into pliability like a tough piece of meat. For years, I have been telling patients with this kind of knee pain to be skeptical of therapists who take this approach. My standard quip is, “Trying to lengthen the IT band by massaging it works about as well as it would on a truck tire.”
It used to just be logical that the IT band’s muscles would affect IT band tightness and function … now it’s scientific!
What should people with buttock pain take from this? This MRI study simply validates that your butt sure can be tight — to the point of contracture — and yet weak and dysfunctional at the same time. It also shows that trigger point release in the gluteus maximus may not be enough. If you have a clearly hardened band in your gluteus maximus, you may be contractured — a gluteal problem that will strongly resist most therapy.
For more on gluteal pain, see Massage Therapy for Low Back Pain (So Low That It’s Not In the Back). For more about IT band syndrome, see Save Yourself from IT Band Syndrome!
Further Reading
Save Yourself from Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome!
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