When not a medical phrase, "yoga butt" is a common term for an injury that may occur while practicing yoga. It is an overuse injury caused by some of the most basic and often practiced positions. Read on to learn what yoga butt is, what causes it, and how to get rid of it.
"Yoga butt, is also known as proximal hamstring tendinopathy," notes Jenni Tarma, a Yoga Medicine therapy expert. He adds that it is an irritation or inflammation of the hamstring tendons at their attachment place on the ischial tuberosity (the sitting bone).
While acute damage to these tendons, such as a sprain or rupture, is conceivable, Tarma explains tendinopathy as a chronic disorder that develops over time.
A stress injury caused by depending too hard on your hamstrings to hold postures rather than other muscles is one of the causes of yoga butt. Even basic postures like shifting from standing to forward fold without rounding your back might cause this.
"There has been a lot of focus in yoga on forward folds coming from the hips rather than flexion of the spine," Dr. Foster explains. If you do it enough times, you could have a stress injury.
Injuries to the yoga butt are less common, but too much stress on the tendons that link to the pelvic sit bones may produce high-hamstring tendinopathy. Overloading a weak tendon causes it, Dr. Foster says. If you sit cross-legged or in an externally rotated posture like fire log or lotus for too long, it might create hamstring strains and rips. So work on your butt muscles.
Your body may not be entirely prepared if you're healing from surgery or another hamstring injury, and pushing yourself too hard too soon might result in a yoga butt injury.
In that situation, it's advisable to ease back into your practice (don't jump back into a power yoga class) and focus on strengthening exercises.
Experienced yogis will tell you that the agony and discomfort associated with yoga butt are undeniable.
According to Malek, a profound soreness or discomfort in the glute, right below it, or at the ischial tuberosity (sit bone) where the hamstring inserts are frequent symptoms. It may feel tight or as though you're under a little strain.
Malek also claims that the deep knot-like sensation in the piriformis muscle may cause sciatica and tingling or numbness down the leg. This is because, in some people, the piriformis runs directly over the sciatic nerve rather than through or beneath it.
The most prevalent source of discomfort in yoga is hip flexion in positions like happy baby, lunge, forward fold, or the big toe pose.
Yoga butt may happen to every yogi. If you have high hamstring discomfort, you should modify or avoid positions that worsen it. Yoga butt may be avoided by including balance and strength exercises in your entire fitness plan.
