The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Injuries, Restrictions, Ailments, Pose Modifications › Injuries › Very sore left lateral heel & left gluteal.
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Injuries, Restrictions, Ailments, Pose Modifications › Injuries › Very sore left lateral heel & left gluteal.
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I am on day 40 aiming for 60 of Bikram yoga and it hurts so much in the left heel with standing head to knee pose (only can work on standing, no head to knee now) and left gluteal with standing seperate leg stretch and standing seperate leg head to knee pose with the flexion. I really try correct alignment and the studio says keep coming it will get better but it seems worse. Yes my core is weak and in particular the left leg from a lateral meniscal repair so my knee flexion is decreased. Any suggestions?
Hi oaklyn
I am hoping you can give me some more details!
You mention your heel hurts. Is it ONLY in Standing Head to Knee? Is it only on the outside of the heel (as mentioned in the topic header)? Does it feel worse when you lift your leg up perhaps because the outside of the foot gets more weighted?
Do you pigeon toe your feet in Standing Sep Leg Intense Stretch? Are your legs straight or bent in this pose?
Is it only your left butt that hurts in Sep Leg Head to Knee? And at what point does it hurt in the pose?
I am of the opinion that the yoga will fix most things – but not all. You appear convinced that something is not working for you. Listen to that voice.
I would really appreciate knowing more so if you are willing to share more details that would be great.
In particular note the poses where you are feeling pain in your left heel, left gluteals and left knee, when you notice the problem and anything else you deem relevant.
I know these challenges are important commitments that are not made lightly. It is an external commitment that doesn’t take into account injuries and worsening conditions. You may not like to hear this (and I baulk at even typing it) but there may be a time where you have to honor the commitment you have to yourself and acknowledge that there are more important things at stake!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂The left bottom of the heel hurts most in the standing breathing, half moon & hands to feet pose, awkward pose 1st part, eagle pose when standing on the left foot, standing head to knee pose on left leg, (I am still unable to kick leg out so time is spend learning to lock standing knee), left standing in balancing stick and let standing in tree pose. The left gluteal hurts most in standing separate leg stretching, Standing separate leg to head to knee pose when you tuck your chin and then roll down to the left side, I keep my left knee bent due to left glutal pain, sitting head to knee pose when you have legs apart and bend to the left. The left leg problems have been several years although is now more painful all the time. The left heel is new from a month ago and has worsen the longer I am on my feet and also first time I am up after sleeping. I don’t think I pigeon toe and do wear orthotics for fallen arches. I viewed your video on the feet. The left gluteal pain is from the left side of the sacrum to the left tuberosity of the ischuim.
Hi Lyn
I was wondering if maybe you have a heel spur. It seems that when your body weights the left heel you are experiencing pain/difficulties. Is it only in the heel or does it radiate somewhere? What does your physical therapist or massage therapist say? Has simple massage (probably deep massage) helped your situation? Does your heel for example feel better if you did one of the offending poses on a double or triple thickness of mat, for extra cushioning?
Do you pigeon toe your feet in Standing Sep Leg Intense Stretch? Are your legs straight or bent in this pose?
Both these questions are important. You may find that certain conditions (like sciatica) are exacerbated when you pigeon toe your feet for this Intense Stretch pose. But first port of call is how you do this pose. May I humbly request you check out my blog post Opening Up Your Hamstrings With Hot Yoga so that you can confirm for me what you are doing. If your legs are straight but your back is rounded then this could be part of your problem. And then if you are also pointing your toes in, well this makes the problem worse.
A similar principle is in play for Head to Knee (on the floor) and for which you already instinctively bend up the leg. If you are engaging your muscles correctly in this pose then you should be experiencing some benefits here.
Have you found any positions for your body where your left glutes feel some relief? Have you tried embryo and child’s poses? (that is lying over your legs, with knees together and feet under hips. Or start with a kneel then bring toes together, knees apart and body between your legs lying forward on the ground).
I wonder whether this problem was present in any sense, before you started your challenge. It is possible that it was there before and the stresses of your challenge commitments in a physical sense have surfaced them.
Can you tell me what seems to be resonating for you from our conversation? Do you get a feeling there is something that you could be doing to fix this like massage or some kind of physical therapy? Do you get a feeling it is something in your practice causing it or that your practice is simply the catalyst for an underlying problem?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Thank you for the suggestions. The left heel hurts with any weight bearing and is painful on the middle to left side on the bottom of the left foot. Upon palpation it is also painful at the lateral heel up about 2 cm. Icing the heel helps, along with making sure I wear my orthodicts when not in yoga. On the Standing separate leg stretch. Yes I do pigeon toe with straight legs per instructions. I just tried your suggestion briefly and I think it helps, will see in class Friday. I read about the hamstring stretching, thank you.
The left gluteal feels better when not stretched at all. I find relief when I contact it hard and then let go and also notice less pain when I can engage the left quads (there is some connection ) When trying to do just the first part of Standing head to knee pose it hurts along with the heel. This pose is very difficult and can only do the first part for I am learning to engage the quads, although I am not sure if my weight needs to be more at the ball mounts or all over the foot. The gluteal problem is long standing and is being pushed with the 60 challenge. I also think since I am new I most likely don’t do poses correctly and am in the learning curve although I think that is always the case. My core muscle are also weak. For all these reasons and more I do the yoga. I feel so much better everywhere else. An adventure! I have seen a few physical therapist before and will make an appointment to see a particular one since she has done hot yoga a few times and seems very smart about the body with alignment and uses hand on techniques.Great Lyn
I look forward to hearing of your progress.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂The visit to the physical therapist gave good insight. She said the left foot has plantar fasciitis which is not too bad yet since the whole bottom foot is not involved. The pain is starting at insertion point towards the back of the bottom of the left foot and is causing pain in the calf clear up into the mid gluteal area due to tight fascia from foot to gluteal area. She said keep doing the yoga and gave me 3 stretches ( pigeon pose, downward dog and hamstring stretch in particular stretching in dorsi flexion since I have no range there in the left ankle) to do several times a day. After one treatment of massage, Graston technique and stretching from the physical therapist I had more flexibility in the hot yoga class and less pain.
Hi Lyn
I was wondering about that. Heel spurs often occur with plantar fasciitis. I have had a number of students with this and related problems. I remember that 2 particular students would bring 2 mats to class and place them in a ‘t’. The extra padding in the center was good for some poses. And it also made stepping out wide possible.
Learning to walk properly by using the outside of your foot, a technique that I describe in my video Great Posture From The Ground Up should give you some hints. Another thing to do is to sit on a chair, sofa, toilet or bench and rise up on your toes, lift your ankles high just as you do in Part 2 Awkward pose and lean in to your ankles. This will be very liberating for your feet and ankles and will go a long way to helping your condition and will complement the other stretches you have been prescribed.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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