Duration of Iliopsoas Syndrome | Iliopsoas Syndrome

Duration of Iliopsoas Syndrome

Both the amount of time that must pass before developing iliopsoas syndrome and the duration of the healing process are vague. People are different and so are their muscles. Everyone has an individual “threshold”, which is what his body can withstand in terms of incorrect strain and overload.

Accordingly, sooner or later it comes to the Iliopsoas Syndrome. The healing time is similar. Usually 6 weeks can pass until an iliopsoas syndrome is over under adequate treatment.

These 6 weeks can also become 8 weeks. If the problem has been ignored and protracted for a long period of time before, or if the person affected has not consistently followed his doctor’s measures and, for example, has continued to exercise or has not done any stretching exercises, the healing process may take much longer. Even if these periods of time are very long and the therapy options sound rather unpleasant, one should in any case give one’s own body the time needed to become healthy. In the worst case, an iliopsoas syndrome might otherwise never heal completely.

Musculus iliopsoas

The iliopsoas muscle is part of the inner hip muscles and consists of the large lumbar muscle (Musculus psoas major), the iliac muscle (M. iliacus) and in some people additionally the small lumbar muscle (M. psoas minor). In its entirety, it runs from the transverse processes of the lumbar spine and the iliac fossa to the inner side of the thigh through the fatty connective tissue of the back wall of the abdominal cavity. This results in its function as the strongest flexor of the hip joint.

It thus enables us to perform movements such as pulling the thigh towards the body or straightening the upper body from the supine position. In this function, it is an important antagonist of the gluteal muscles. It is also responsible for the external rotation of the thigh.

If the M. iliopsoas is too weakly developed due to lack of movement and frequent sitting, this can make climbing stairs and walking generally very difficult, especially for older people. In this case, two other muscles of the thigh, the straight thigh muscle (M. quadriceps femoris) and the tailor muscle (M. sartorius), must take over its task. Between the hip bone and the vision of the iliopsoas muscle is a bursa, the bursa iliopectinea. As with all bursae, its function is to minimize friction between the bone and another structure (in this case, the tendon of the iliopsoas muscle). The bursa iliopectina plays an important role in the clinical picture of iliopsoas syndrome.