how do you know you have piriformis syndrome
Member
sciatica
coach,
i have been suffering from sciatic pain due to piriformis syndrome. i have been taking ibuprofen and it doesnt seem to help. i am able to train but when not training i have the annoying pain in my butt that runs down my leg. have you had any experience with any of your athletes with this problem? any adivce is appreciated. thanks
TMPHBITEU
how do you know you have piriformis syndrome
Member
Mate,Originally Posted by gettinstrong
I used to suffer from sciatica quite badly. Nothing seemed to sort it out at all. A real pain in the ass (no pun intended). Then I found crossfit which introduced me to deadlifts, then I found SS and since then i've had (almost) no problems. No need for any pain relief whatsoever. I have have to be consistent with my training.
Hope that's of some help - obviously these things manifest themselves differently in different folks.
Simon
Member
well i dont know if i have piriformis syndrome. i am scheduling an mri today. i just figured that if i have piriformis it would be easier to fix then a herniated disk or some other spinal issue. so i wanted to get a heads up on if you have dealt with piriformis before and what kind of rehab may be involved so i dont get the normal doctor prescription of not lifting any heavy weights. if i do have a bulging disk i figured that it wouldnt be an easy fix and that i would have to deal with this annoying sciatic pain bullshit. if i am wrong with any of this straighten me out so i understand the issue better. thanks for the help
Member
I would suggest getting a massage - a good one, with someone who understands piriformis syndrome and other nerve impingement issues caused by muscular issues.
If you're in my area, I'd help you out (Cleburne, Texas), at The Dang Gym.
ibuprofen probably wouldn't do much for nerve pain; you can ask your doc about newer nerve anti-inflamatories out there for nerves, but a good deep-tissue massage, in the absence of spinal trauma causing the sciatic pain, is likely going to be a big help to you.
Rachel Watkins
Licensed Massage Therapist
Member
Hi, I'm curious to see what other opinions y'all did have. Searching around led me to this forum, book and threads that gave positive results with squats and deads in regards to similar situations.
A few things that I've been following is Mark's muscle belly injury advice sticky post the last few days - I've been doing squats and deadlifts (as described in his book,) in hopes that in the weeks to come my similar "sciatica-like" pain corrects itself.
Following the proper squatting and deadlift form out of the new edition book is amazing...
I've been doing crossfit along with some of Mark's SS and a little yoga for the past year, injury free until - 2 weeks ago, my buddies and I were being a little retarded and we had an indoor "apartment wrestling" session - thanks to Mr. Jack Daniels. I somehow picked a friend off balance and fell down - don't remember which way.
Since then, usually upon awakening or if I'm about to start into a "burpee" position, or move in any position such as that during the day/night - I begin to get this sharp shooting pain in my mid-right buttocks region that continues down the right side and slight rear of the right upper leg to the side and slight rear of my right lower leg. I haven't noticed any sensation of pain in my lumbar/sacral region. I do however notice that "some muscle" in that right mid-buttocks region, when standing after this pain sensation, starts contracting/spastic for a few seconds.
Other things that helped momentarily are - (Just started doing the squats/deadlifts daily)
* lunges (light alternating dumbells while walking in a straight line)
* using a tennis ball or golf ball and "rolling" your affected buttocks area against the floor or wall - (trigger point therapy)
* some hamstring and piriformis stretching -
* hand held pulsing massager
* keep hydrated
http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/piri.2.html
http://www.jaxmed.com/massage/pirformis_stretches.htm
(w/f/s links)
Now I'm sure Mark as well as others would say the best and definitive way to identify what is causing or rather "rule out" the cause of the the "sciatica" pain, since this is a symptom of a few possible origins - is an imaging study. An imaging study (i.e. CT / MRI) would be the best bet to make sure it's not something more serious causing the sciatica (i.e. sacroilliac joint or disc related) than a tight muscle - i.e. piriformis or other gluteal muscles for example.
Right now, I've been sticking to ring dips/pull ups and squats and deadlifts, lower weight Rippetoe style. The sciatic like pain is almost non-existent in these moves. Diet is still in check. I know these things can be discouraging as we don't know what it feels like until it happens to us -
For myself, I'm a student on exam leave and I've got no insurance to do the above. I'm stuck doing the above mentioned things for now - hoping for the better... but if y'all know of any other SS style or non/weighted exercises to hopefully correct something like this - I'm open to them.
Another interesting question is, apart from imaging studies, what could one do to rule out sciatica caused by something other than a tight piriformis aka piriformis syndrome?
Hope these points and thoughts help others - looking forward to hearing some other tips. If I find anything more, I'll post it here... thanks for your time!
TMPHBITEU
Once again, when did "piriformis syndrome" become the diagnosis of choice for an injury that most usually involves spinal pathology? Have the PTs infiltrated my board?
Travis?
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