Gluteal tendinopathies can be caused by a one-off injury however they are usually the result of a cumulative injury when the gluteal tendon undergoes changes due to prolonged or repetitive activity.
Although they can be the result of chronic over-use, they are more commonly associated with long-term under-use of the gluteal muscles in the buttocks followed by a fairly swift increase or change in activity.
A typical patient is someone who has not done much exercise for a number of years – and has a fairly sedentary lifestyle (desk job, drive to work, etc.) – but has recently decided to take up running without having gone through a strength or conditioning programme beforehand. The tendon has become weak as a result of the years of inactivity and the recent rapid increase in activity starts to put it under pressure that it is unable to cope with.