Most runners have experienced a pain in the butt at one time or another, and we are not talking about one s spouse or children. Most butt pains come and go, but some persist and worsen over time. The problem is that not all butt pains are created equal. There are many causes of pain in the gluteal area, the more anatomically correct term.
Most runners recognize pain in the lower leg near the heel as Achilles tendonitis.
However, a pain in the butt is not as easy to diagnose. Many runners self-diagnose their gluteal pain as sciatica, although when pressed to describe exactly what sciatica is, few can do it. Experience has shown us that what most runners call sciatica is actually pain from another source, and the possibilities are many. To complicate matters more, many of these problems may occur simultaneously and are not always easy to distinguish from one another. So the next time one of your running buddies tells you that he or she knows the cause of your butt pain, thank them and then think again.