Piriformis syndrom, anyone?

slowlanejane

I have been suffering endless, eternal, nagging sciatic pain since end Nov and am FED UP with it. Its strange tho, not the usual kind of sciatica, this is like a knife in the depths of one buttock, doesn't raditate. Been trying to rest it, tried to gently exercise thru it, tried regular painkillers, nothing works, just aggravate it again.

Diagnosis:Piriformis Syndrome.

Guess what causes / aggravates it: cycling and running.

Guess which sports I do?

Why has it flared up now? Because I was made redundant last Oct, I've been home and making the most of the time, increasing my running / cycling no end ... losing weight, getting fit - and giving myself Piriformis Syndrome. All stopped now and has been since early Dec.

Feckity-feck feck.

New exercise regime stretching my sciatic nerve. And I'm going to be gently running / cycling because I am FED UP not.

Harumpf.

Anyone had this & recovered and if so, what worked for you?

red dragon

Hi slowlanejane I do not know if I have had Piriformis syndrome but I have experienced something very similar. Indeed I have followed something similar in background to yourself. I retired (aged 62 and post heart attack) two and a bit years ago. First year getting in about 140 to 200 miles a week in the summer. Feeling pretty good.
Last year(May) went to a wedding, being in the mood for dancing after three glasses of bubbly I was going at it like a man possesed. The following day after driving up north from Luton I fell asleep in my chair when we got home.
Big mistake, from the hips down my muscles locked up, I was in agony and every now and then things would lock up.
In june I fell out of bed and landed on the base of my spine - that really seemed to jigger up my hips.
I went to sports physio, osteopath and eventually onto the NHS Physio service ( from my GP).
In the meantime I had been going out once a week on my bike, down to the Gym and at the end of May attending an aerobics class.
Right that is some of the background, the exercises I got from the NHS Physio service were of use (as were the ones from the Sports Physio) but these stretches must be done regularly and if stretching piriformis 2 x 30 seconds per leg were sufficient. by August I had almost lost the plot as I was thinking of selling my bikes. Sometimes the pain was intense and muscles in my hips/legs would lock up. But I continued to do the stretches on a daily basis (as well as going out every now and then on the bike and going down to the gym.) I reached a stage where I was feeling better after exercise.
Then at the end of November I met a friend of mine who suffered from sciatica. she showed me an exercise which involved standing on a step with one foot haning free, gently moving foot from right to left helped relieve things greatly. Then repeating for the other leg.
Now things are back to about 97% of what they were before, the supplement in this months Cycloing plus is very good, have a look on line or best of all consult GP/ Sports Physio they might help. It has taken me since May of last year to get back to the point of wanting to go out and cycle, so I think it might be a case of time and stretching exercises.
Hope this has been of some use to you.
All the best in your efforts.

Eyorerox

Google Pyriformis stretch
do the exercises, one of which will be best for you (left and Right legs)
the thought is that the pyriformis muscle is irritating the sciatic nerve
these stretches will hurt at first
It is possible to get the pyriformis muscle injected
A good Sports Physio can help you
and build volume and intensity of exercise slowly
you may feel like a 20 year old but you heal like a 50 year old!

red dragon

Makes sense to me and although not the original postee sound good to me. Ta.