Piriformis Syndrome

I was reading a post on here about degenerative disc problems and thought I'd share my experience. I've been battling what I thought was some form of disc problem for over ten years now. I've had the text book symptoms of sciatica: pain in lower back, hip, buttocks, pain running all the way down to feet at times, and its been progressively getting worse. Well, after countless attempts with chiropractors, spinal physicians, physical therapists, x-rays, MRIs, and so on I was never able to get a diagnosis. Spine looked fine, discs spaced perfectly, no injuries, nothing. Needless to say I was beyond frustrated. At times I could barely walk, couldn't sleep, struggled to work out, missed work, depression; its been horrible. Through my own research and speaking with the last physical therapist I'd been seeing, its been recently determined I have Piriformis Syndrome. This results in pain virtually identical to sciatica caused by disc problems, but it is actually the piriformis muscle (a gluteal muscle in the area between your hip and tailbone) that becomes irritated/inflamed and presses on the sciatic nerve. Now that I actually have a definitive problem, I feel I can work to fix it. There are numerous stretches that can be done, a lot can be found online, that target the piriformis muscle. Also, hamstring stretches are supposed to be very beneficial for this too (I have extremely tight hamstrings).

Anyway, I have been working with these stretches and am for the first time cautiously optimistic that I may be able to work towards relief. I'm just curious if anyone else has had to deal with Piriformis Syndrome and if so what helped. My main fear is that since it has been going on for so long with virtually no treatment (since no one could pin-point the problem) that the damage has been done and I may not be able to correct it by simple stretches alone. I have read where if there is too much nerve or muscle damage, it may require surgery, which obviously I want to avoid if at all possible. Also, I wanted to bring this up for those that may be suffering from similar issues and are unable to figure out what's wrong. Until very recently I myself didn't even know such a condition existed.

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Originally Posted by Strong_Guy

I was reading a post on here about degenerative disc problems and thought I'd share my experience. I've been battling what I thought was some form of disc problem for over ten years now. I've had the text book symptoms of sciatica: pain in lower back, hip, buttocks, pain running all the way down to feet at times, and its been progressively getting worse. Well, after countless attempts with chiropractors, spinal physicians, physical therapists, x-rays, MRIs, and so on I was never able to get a diagnosis. Spine looked fine, discs spaced perfectly, no injuries, nothing. Needless to say I was beyond frustrated. At times I could barely walk, couldn't sleep, struggled to work out, missed work, depression; its been horrible. Through my own research and speaking with the last physical therapist I'd been seeing, its been recently determined I have Piriformis Syndrome. This results in pain virtually identical to sciatica caused by disc problems, but it is actually the piriformis muscle (a gluteal muscle in the area between your hip and tailbone) that becomes irritated/inflamed and presses on the sciatic nerve. Now that I actually have a definitive problem, I feel I can work to fix it. There are numerous stretches that can be done, a lot can be found online, that target the piriformis muscle. Also, hamstring stretches are supposed to be very beneficial for this too (I have extremely tight hamstrings).

Anyway, I have been working with these stretches and am for the first time cautiously optimistic that I may be able to work towards relief. I'm just curious if anyone else has had to deal with Piriformis Syndrome and if so what helped. My main fear is that since it has been going on for so long with virtually no treatment (since no one could pin-point the problem) that the damage has been done and I may not be able to correct it by simple stretches alone. I have read where if there is too much nerve or muscle damage, it may require surgery, which obviously I want to avoid if at all possible. Also, I wanted to bring this up for those that may be suffering from similar issues and are unable to figure out what's wrong. Until very recently I myself didn't even know such a condition existed.

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I think I may have this, have you ever run a cycle and it felt way better when on?

I am 50 and have worked in construction my entire working career, also I'm 6' 4.5" back and neck problems are my reality. It has been very helpful reading about other members on this forum with similar problems. the only advise I can give is adapt and overcome, was told by my doctor to never squat again so I bought a spud belt and fabed up my own belt squat machine, And deadlifts forget about it. I hate to say this but all of you will be faced with back problems when you are my age, if you are still lifting, enjoy your youth.

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Originally Posted by studog

I am 50 and have worked in construction my entire working career, also I'm 6' 4.5" back and neck problems are my reality. I has been very helpful reading about other members on this forum with similar problems. the only advise I can give is adapt and overcome, was told by my doctor to never squat again so I bought a spud belt and fabed up my own belt squat machine, And deadlifts forget about it. I hate to say this but all of you will be faced with back problems when you are my age, if you are still lifting, enjoy your youth.

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Construction is a brutal line of work. I'm still young, but I used to wire all those houses ( for 8 years) getting in and out of small spaces... It was bad for my back, until I started strengthening my back muscles... Rolling my back helps tremendously, as does the reverse-hypers.

To the op, you may want to ask your PT to use trigger point therapy on your piriformis muscle, this will loosen the area tremendously... You may also want to think about acupuncture or dry needling.

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Originally Posted by weekend

I think I may have this, have you ever run a cycle and it felt way better when on?

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The pain has been so inconsistent its hard to say... I can go weeks with no problems followed by a flare up that lasts for equally as long, then the pain will be gone one day and the cycle continues on and on like that. I will say if I can time it right to run a cycle when it isn't bothering me, the results are usually phenomenally great. It figures that I just started a cycle of AHv3 and 11 oxo and the pain shot up again. I've actually had to cut cycles off short before because the pain was too great to push myself to the point where the compounds will best be utilized.

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Originally Posted by studog

I am 50 and have worked in construction my entire working career, also I'm 6' 4.5" back and neck problems are my reality. It has been very helpful reading about other members on this forum with similar problems. the only advise I can give is adapt and overcome, was told by my doctor to never squat again so I bought a spud belt and fabed up my own belt squat machine, And deadlifts forget about it. I hate to say this but all of you will be faced with back problems when you are my age, if you are still lifting, enjoy your youth.

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When its bothering me I pretty much have to eliminate any substantial leg exercises, I know I shouldn't but the pain is too great sometimes and I don't want to risk a serious injury due to overcompensation or something. When talking to the physical therapist about it, she's told me I need to continue some king of lower body exercises even if it is just body weight squats and lunges. Core exercises are another thing I'm trying to really maintain. The pain can make it virtually impossible sometimes though, but I know they are very important to help balance everything around the lower back and hips.

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Originally Posted by O_RYAN_007

Construction is a brutal line of work. I'm still young, but I used to wire all those houses ( for 8 years) getting in and out of small spaces... It was bad for my back, until I started strengthening my back muscles... Rolling my back helps tremendously, as does the reverse-hypers.

To the op, you may want to ask your PT to use trigger point therapy on your piriformis muscle, this will loosen the area tremendously... You may also want to think about acupuncture or dry needling.

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At my job I am either in a car or at a desk almost everyday which ironically can be just as hard as manual labor it seems. I can be in awful shape if I have to sit for too long.

I was actually shown some excercises/stretches utilized to target the trigger point for the piriformis muscle using a foam roller. That's one way I was really able to realize that the piriformis is the problem, the tenderness is insanely painful. I think it is working to loosen it up though. The pain is different since using the roller, it went from a sharp/shooting to a kind of soreness, almost like how it feels when you first start doing lunges and the glute is sore and tender until it strengthens. Here's keeping my fingers crossed.

Another help is to do self-myofascial release on a foam roller. It hurts and takes consistent application, but after awhile it will help.

Rumble roller!!!!!

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Originally Posted by O_RYAN_007

Rumble roller!!!!!

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Amen to that. Loosens those tight knots right up for me.