piriformis syndrome

N

Norma P

Member
I've been dealing with piriformis syndrome that is giving me sciatic pain, probably caused by overusing the piriformis muscle while doing too much step aerobics.;( I have done two months of physical therapy and am now trying ART (Active Release Technique) with a trained chiropractor and now it seems to be getting worse. The pain was originally in the lower back and buttocks region, and is now giving me shooting pains in the back of the knee and the heel. Any suggestions on how to get relief from this would be greatly appreciated!!:)
 
Hi Norma, I don't know of any bigger pain in the butt than sciatic pain!!!! Active release is such a vigorous and aggressive therapy that it's not altogether surprising that it 'gets worse before it gets better' I've seen people in clinic with open sores and abrasions from ART and sometimes wonder where the line is betwees tissue 'challenge' and 'damage'. Postural re-alignment can really help with piriformis syndrome especially if you are an over pronator. Hyperpronation tends to increase internal rotation and adduction of the thigh during walking, overworking the piriformis as it tries to controll the excessive rotation. Do your arches collapse causing your foot to roll in towards the big to? Correcting this with things like orthotics and 'towel scrunching' exercises to strengthen the arches of the foot can really help. I know it's very tedious for some but piriformis stretches held long (1 minute or more) and relaxed like 'pigeon pose' (Cathe uses this stretch in KPC and a few other workouts) can really help open up the hip and groin and lengthen the piriformis.

Take Care
Laurie
 
Hi Norma,

I had this problem 4 years ago and the only thing that eventually worked was seeing a Pain Management doctor. What he did was to give me a local on my left leg and glute area (the problem side) and then stick two metal needles into my buttocks and deliver an electrical current to the piriformis. The piriformis then released and talk about relief!!! Within a week or two, I was back to doing step and running pain free!! What also has helped is to do the stretches for the piriformis, hamstrings, calves and feet that the PT gave to me daily after my workouts. To this day, I have had little problem with sciatic pain :) , and the few times that I have felt the "twinges", I just back off a little on the cardio and glute work for a couple of days and add in extra stretching throughout the day. Oh, and I also overpronate and have had plantar faciatis so I wear custom orthodics in my workout shoes. I think that they are all related to one another (at least in my case).

HTH,

Becky
 
I have now had sciatica pain for about 3 months and it is not fun. I used a chiro for a couple of months and that did nothing for me. I am now going to a physcial therapist and it is helping tremendously. I am getting a massage and they are going in with an ultrasound wound and going over the low back to help release the inflammation and to help heal the tissue. They are then massaging the joints. My PT says that you have to release the middle back and lower back as well as the piriformous muscle. I have doing a lot of stretches for the glute, especially pigeon. I have also been doing tons of hamstring stretches and a few seated spinal twists to help loosen up the middle and lower back. I have also cut back on the amount of working out. I am doing nothing that involves any impact. I got my sciatica pain from running too much and increasing the mileage too soon. I hope you feel better. I guess the sciatica pain is something that does take awhile to heal.

Susan
 
Just to echo the good advice you're getting: the pigeon pose held for a long time (but being careful to ease into it and not force a stretch) to get the muscle to release has really worked well for me. I was shown at PT how to do the pigeon pose with the bent leg elevated on a counter (your kitchen island?) and this can really help.

Also, the muscles around that area, like Susan says, are useful to keep very limber. I find side stretches & working/strengthening obliques can help, along with hamstrings & glutes.

Jess on the Cheetah forum also recommends a roller and has had good results with that.

Good luck to you. This is no fun to deal with!

-Barb:)
 
Here's the link from Jess for the roller:
http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_4918_A_rnd_E_20

on this page there is a sheet you can click on that explains what exercises you can do.

I had this hip pain which was very severe and after PT was able to resolve it by being really diligent about doing all the stretching and strengthening exercises. Don't lose hope at not getting quick relief. It takes awhile to work this through. You have to keep after it, but find that balance of working it through, but not "ripping" it through by overstretching.

I think the stretches on B&G and Kickmax which does pigeon pose are good. On Cathe's basic stretching tape segment 1 and then Stretchmax 1 have worked well for me. Also, the leg conditioning drills on KickMax & floorwork on any tape is helpful.

Good luck Norma!!
-Barb
:)
 
Thank you all for your responses and for such great suggestions. I've had this pain for about a year and kept working out despite it until early October when I went to a sports medicine doctor. Thanks for caring and I will hang in there and try out these tips.
 
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