Are you Sitting Like a Gargoyle?

Over the summer I’ve been working with a patient who started having some LEFT hip flexor tendonitis after completing Grandma’s marathon in the Spring.

The interesting detail is that I was treating her for the same problem on the RIGHT hip BEFORE the marathon.

We got her pain-free for race day, but then the LEFT hip flared up afterwards. The problem was that the LEFT side was healing sooooooo slowly.

Every week she would come to her session and it was only a little bit better. Not much change occuring.

We’d do some dry needling, do some good stuff for the hip, it would feel better in session, and then I’d send her off to do her runs for the week.

She’d come back the following week and, yet again, only a little bit better…

This frustrating cycle was going on for weeks.

And then we discovered the missing piece: she sits like a gargoyle all day!

Take a look at the image above. The stone creature is sitting with his knees underneath his chin. His HIPS are extremely FLEXED. This is how she was sitting.

Whenever someone is dealing with a hip flexor tendonitis, spending a lot of time in deep hip flexion subtly irritates the hip tendons.
If your hip hurts, don’t sit like a gargoyle
The discovery that she sits like a gargoyle came up naturally in conversation and as soon as I heard she sits like that I immediately said STOP SITTING LIKE THAT!

She heard me loud and clear and began sitting more ‘normally’ and lo and behold: total abolishment of symptoms.

She came back the next week and said she has had ZERO hip pain over the past week. She went on 3 runs and had NO PAIN.

BOOM! YES! Finally! Jumping for joy.

If you’re dealing with a hip flexor tendonitis, consciously avoid positions of deep hip flexion. Especially when sitting.

Sometimes, the “silver bullet” for running pain has nothing to do with your running. It’s the hidden habits outside of training (like sitting like a gargoyle at work) that make all the difference.

If you’ve been stuck trying to figure out your pain on your own, don’t keep struggling, schedule a free discovery call with me. Together we’ll find your missing piece.

Your best is yet to come!

Dr. Michael

Valiant Physical Therapy
Evanston, Illinois
Physical therapy for Runners | Sports Rehab