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Do you or someone you know suffere from DBS? You might be like "What's DBS, and why should I care?" Well gamers who spend hours sitting at their screen all day or workers who are glued to their desks at their 9 to 5 could be prone to it. It's calle “Dead Butt Syndrome.” We laughed when we heard what it was called at first too, but “Dead Butt Syndrome” is a real thing! It’s clinically referred to as gluteus medius tendinopathy or gluteal amnesia and it means the glutes aren’t working properly after long periods of inactivity.
Here are some of the symptoms of Dead Butt Syndrome:
- Lower back or hip pain
- Knee and ankle pain
- Shooting pain down your legs
- You might confuse experiencing numbness in the glutes after a few hours of sitting with DBS, but if it subsidies within a few minutes, you’re probably good. The numbness associated with DBS won’t disappear as quickly, or at all.
When you’re sitting down, your hip flexors tighten, and your glutes stretch. If you aren’t regularly stretching out your hip flexors though, you could develop DBS. There are simple ways to prevent it though.
- Break up the time you spend sitting. Yes, this is a good enough excuse to always be up and walking around the office every 45 minutes minutes. Just tell your boss you're doing your best to prevent Dead Butt Syndrome. They’ll likely understand.
- Do exercises to stretch your hips and strengthen your glutes. Squats, glute bridges, deadlifts, and step-ups are exercises that engage your glutes and hips