piriformis syndrome - help!

afrost

 Any suggestions for how to clear this up?  And what to do in the meantime while I am waiting for it to heal?

Very tight left butt cheek with some referring dull ache type of pain down the outside (but just at the top) of my leg.  I have been for massage and will go again next week.  I am stretching like a mad woman.  Sitting on a TP ball to drive and in my office.  Any other thoughts?  Any good stretches i might not have heard of?

Running is what has set this off (I'm pretty sure).  So no running for sure until it has calmed down.  I am loathe to give up the bike though as this is where I really need to work.  I can feel it though on the bike, so have stepped away from that too right now. But maybe I can bike?  Even swimmng is a bust as even open turns irritate it.

So any ideas?  Other than stretching?  Should i get on the weights?  Is there any leg or butt strengthening I should be doing?  Any sense of how long this takes to get better?

Thanks all for any insights!  Always appreciate your help!

 

---Ann.

 

 

 

 

jhbinsc

Hate to hear this. Deep massage, ART and stretching are my go to prevention strategies but George Smith is an expert on piriformis syndrome, I'll alert him to this post. Good luck!

Carl

I have to foam roll daily. Ecspecially during the VO2 max portion of the OS. Mine get very tight. There are some video's in the wiki that were put together also. Again roll, roll, roll, and roll.

Paul Hough

Ann - I feel your pain...literally. My left leg has been a combo of tight hammy, tight IT band, and pain in the ass for years. Yesterday I was running in the WingDing 5K. My left butt was tight but that was normal...didn't think anything of it. Then, right before 2 miles, it started tightening up like it was cramping, and I thought it would tear if I kept on. I had to stop completely, do a quick stretch, then jog to the finish. With the stop, I hit 2 miles at 12:57, and 5K at only 23:10. It was a very slow 3rd mile. My left butt hurt to sit on all of Thanksgiving and into this morning. Internet research led me to believe it's the piriformis. So I finally sat on an ice pad and that gave me virtually instant relief. After that, I swam 3300 yds, and although I felt it on the flip turns, that was the only time. Sat on the ice pad after swimming, and was able to do a hard hour on the bike. So I'm going to ice my ass right off and then do the piriformis stretches I saw online.

afrost

Thanks guys for the help! Carl, I am on my way this morning to get a foam roller. I think that would be a useful tool to have. Yup, Paul, it sounds EXACTLY like what I have. Boo! That sucks! Your experience is just like mine on last Sunday's 3 x 1 mile run. Got to the end of the 2nd mile and thought I was about to tear something! Shut it down. I will try the ice too. Yeah, the flip turns bugged me too, but I may try swimming again today just to do SOMETHING. Check out this video. I was doing these stretches yesterday and I think they were actually helpful (especially the first one he shows). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFtUgS69rPk

Thanks again for the good ideas. Let's hope this goes away soon.

---Ann.

Robert Sabo

Most people find that a tennis ball is perfect to roll around on.

afrost

Robert, great idea. I now carry one around with me to use wherever I am going to be sitting. Looks a little odd in faculty meetings, but they'll get over it! :-)

---Ann.

Paul Hough

@ Robert - I always have one in my car...especially for long trips, and one at the office!

GSmith821

@Ann, how are you feeling?

afrost

@George, thanks for asking! It's still bugging me. Tried running on Sunday - just EZ and it was not good. Biking seems less bad on it so I think I will give up running entirely for awhile. Still stretching and rolling it. Seeing the massage therapist once a week right now too. Any other ideas?

---Ann.

Michael Johnson

The above suggestions/ and what you have gone are fine, BUT, If NO improvement, here are some things I use on patients:

1. Formal Physical Therapy...stretching, ultrasound, iontophoresis

2. Short Course of oral steroids...Medrol Dosepack

3. Cortisone injection at point of maximum tenderness

In that order......

Kevin Walter

A bit of a cross-thred, but my chronic piriformis type symptoms have improved dramatically by focusing on upping my run cadence. Going to a quicker, but shorter stride length has helped relieve the stress on it, among other joints, muscles, tendons, etc. Good luck.

Chris M.

 I had this for years during my road biking days, just kind of lingering there, until I started riding a tri bike at which point it got much worse.  Along the way I have also been searching for a better saddle for the aero position and I have inadvertently discovered that it is my position on the bike that causes my piriformis to act up.  The only saddle that allows me to sit forward enough to not have any pain is the Adamo, but I didn't realize this at first.  

When I got the Adamo I also started getting ART treatments which helped a lot.  I still find the Adamo painful to sit on so a couple of weeks ago I tried a Specialized Romin saddle which while comfy on the nether regions if you sit on the wide part, caused my piriformis to suddenly become very painful again because even with it all the way forward on the rails, my hips are still further back than they are on the Adamo.  This was when I realized it was my seating position that has caused this problem all along.  

So today I put the Adamo back on and rode hard for 40 miles with NO piriformis pain.  Now if I can just figure out how to eliminate the perineal pain I will be good to go.

Sorry for the long explanation, but my point is if you can figure out what caused it and correct that, it will be gone for good.