Greater trochanteric pain syndrome affects athletes’ sporting performance, sleep, mobility, and quality of life. Samantha Nupen delves into the cluster of signs and symptoms with apparent contributing factors that aid the diagnosis of this debilitating condition.
Alpine Skiing - Saalbach, Austria - Austria’s Cornelia Huetter in action REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS) is most common in people over the age of forty, with women outnumbering men by a ratio of up to 4:1(1). Increased adiposity and low back pain also raise the GTPS risk. It presents as pain over the lateral hip that may spread down the lateral thigh. Symptoms include difficulty lying on either side at night, standing for any length, walking, climbing (up or down) stairs, and extended periods of sitting. It is prevalent in runners, skiers, ice skaters, and dancers, where dropping into hip adduction or crossing the midline is often repetitive. In athletes, a significant increase in training load does not allow for tendon adaptation(2).
Historically, clinicians referred to lateral hip pain as trochanteric bursitis (see figure 1). However, it is now accepted that the most prevalent pathology is tendinopathy, with very few symptomatic patients showing bursal enlargement on scanning. If there is bursal involvement, it will be in the trochanteric bursa or sub-gluteus maximus bursa. Still, the predominant gluteal tendinopathy pathology is in the gluteus medius or gluteus minimus tendon.
Our international team of qualified experts (see above) spend hours poring over scores of technical journals and medical papers that even the most interested professionals don't have time to read.
For 17 years, we've helped hard-working physiotherapists and sports professionals like you, overwhelmed by the vast amount of new research, bring science to their treatment. Sports Injury Bulletin is the ideal resource for practitioners too busy to cull through all the monthly journals to find meaningful and applicable studies.
*includes 3 coaching manuals
Get Inspired
All the latest techniques and approaches
Sports Injury Bulletin brings together a worldwide panel of experts – including physiotherapists, doctors, researchers and sports scientists. Together we deliver everything you need to help your clients avoid – or recover as quickly as possible from – injuries.
We strip away the scientific jargon and deliver you easy-to-follow training exercises, nutrition tips, psychological strategies and recovery programmes and exercises in plain English.