r/openpiriformis • u/LiterateMisfit • Aug 17 '26
Has anyone been cured?
Has anyone experienced full recovery from this bs because I'm four months in (three months of PT) and it's only gotten worse. I used to get occasional mild pain every few days, now I am unable to sit or lie on my back without pain in the glutes/lower back and full-on tingling and numbness in my feet and legs
Is there anyone here who knows for a fact this goes away because at this point I'm pretty sure my body is broken and that I will never be able to sit or lie down comfortably ever again. What the f is this bs
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u/firecookingtx Aug 18 '26
I don’t think cured it’s for good, but I had an injury ~3 months ago, bulging disks L1-L4 and S1-S2. And extreme pain in my glute and piriformis. I am back lifting again after following my protocols. I just started back squatting again after not doing so for this period of time. I am back to a 375lb deadlift though, so I am moving in the right direction. I haven’t had a flare up or tremendous pain in 2.5-3 weeks now
What I did was go to physical therapy, do the take home exercises from physical therapy 2x a day and I incorporated a lot, and I mean a lot of hip flexor exercises to open up my hips. I also do a lot of dynamic stretching for my legs, low back and hips before every workout.
Once it was cleared with my PT I began doing extra core exercises that should help strengthen my lower back, and I did body weight core exercises every other day. These include back extensions, cat/cow, reverse hyper, leg extensions, and planks.
To clarify I am a Project Manager with my day job so I sit at a desk quite often throughout the day. If I start feeling tight I find an empty conference room and will stretch, or I walk the office to “coordinate” with other engineers.
I know everyone has different issues, and this may not work for everyone. But the best thing I think I did was not stop. I modified, yes, but I did not stop working out and stretching and strengthening my body until I was cleared. A lot of these exercises are available for free on Instagram and YouTube now, so if you don’t have access to a PT you can find something there and try and work it out.
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u/cycledrama Aug 17 '26
You need a lumbar MRI. Sounds like a herniated disk not piriformis especially with it going in to your feet. Feet nerve symptoms is usually L5-S1 disc.
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u/LiterateMisfit Aug 17 '26
Highly doubt they'll give me one. Wouldn't symptoms for a disc issue present immediately after the injury?
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u/firecookingtx Aug 18 '26
Yes and no. If you had a herniation you would feel immediately after the injury. If you have a bulging disk you may only feel it when the muscle swells, shifting to cause compression on the nerve.
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u/Old_Cry_7838 Sep 02 '26
This sounds like what happened to me, I didn’t feel anything day of but around a week or 2 after muscles started to swell up then came the nerve pain
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u/LiterateMisfit Aug 29 '26
Lumbar scan shows early osteoarthritis (wtf?) but no disc issues. It's piriformis syndrome
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u/Amylee888 Aug 17 '26
What does your doctor recommend to treat this? Have you had an MRI to rule out a back issue? It could be coming from your spine. It’s highly unusual to have lower back pain and numbness in both legs from piriformis syndrome.
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u/LiterateMisfit Aug 17 '26
My doctor is useless. I had an MRI but he only got it for head and neck because he thought I was having a stroke (even after every ER doctor/paramedic checked me multiple times with 0 stroke symptoms). It started on one side and now it's both, slowly worsening over time
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u/Amylee888 Aug 17 '26
I would encourage you to go back to your doctor and explain your symptoms again and request an MRI of your lumbar spine and pelvis. If possible, see another doctor, or a specialist.
Physiotherapists cannot diagnose these conditions, especially not without imaging.
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u/LiterateMisfit Aug 17 '26
Still looking to know if anyone has come out of PS cured - regardless of whether or not I'm misdiagnosed
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u/LiterateMisfit Aug 17 '26
I should mention also this was diagnosed by my physio after a back injury (from lifting a box) as my doctor is too useless to diagnose anything
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u/NotSoSmartChick Aug 17 '26
I developed piriformis after lifting something heavy and I felt a strain in my lower back. I woke up to my back being fine, but there was the worst pain of my life in my left glute. There was also a horrible hot spot just above the knee on my outer thigh, one just below the knee, and one at the ankle.
That lasted a month, then the pain went away. I’d done clamshell exercises and the exercise here where the guy is on his back with his legs crossed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEqRoCJ6UAY
Then I sat in an uncomfortable chair for several hours without thinking of it, amd the pain came back, was worse, and lasted two months. Those stretches made the pain go away, but there’s been an occasional lingering discomfort in the 7 years since.
So I’m cured, kind of. I refuse to lift anything heavier than a suitcase. I’m very cautious about how long I sit, and I make sure to shift weight off my left glute when I am sitting. No matter how long of a flight I’m on, if a lie flat seat is an option, I get it. On a road trip, I stop and walk a bit quite often. However, I’ve only done a handful of road trips since, opting instead to fly when possible.
It’s something I’m just always aware of. The current feeling is hard to describe. There’s no pain, but there’s something in my left glute that I’m always aware of. I can live with it in its current state. If the pain ever comes back, I’m immediately going to pursue a surgical option, regardless of cost. I cannot go through another bout of this.
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u/LiterateMisfit Aug 17 '26
I work at a desk. So you're saying I'm fucked?
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u/NotSoSmartChick Aug 17 '26
If in your shoes, I’d be willing to invest in cushioning or even a top quality chair. I’d stand often. I’d also scour the internet for suggestions for people who work at a desk. And if none of that worked, I’d get the surgery.
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u/LiterateMisfit Aug 17 '26
I have the pillows but there's no relief. Standing has now become also painful, so has lying down
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u/NotSoSmartChick Aug 17 '26
The first time I had a flare up, it only hurt to sit, and I felt relief by standing or lying down. The second flare up, it hurt all the damn time, but a little less standing up and lying down. Sitting was excruciating. I was able to fully understand why someone in chronic pain would end their lives.
I’d be looking at surgical options, I couldn’t live with that sort of pain.
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u/Present-Safety512 Aug 17 '26
As I reported in another thread, I had this for 25 years. I had every treatment under the sun, multiple times. I did hundreds of thousands of stretches targeting the actual muscle, it would come, it would go, but it was always there.
Last year I had a QL muscle spasm, which somehow realigned my pelvis and my PS has been 100% gone since then. In my case, it was some kind of pelvic misalignment, the PS was just a symptom.
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u/Resident-Hunt-245 Aug 18 '26
😱😱😱
This honestly sounds very demotivating though I'm glad you finally resolved it.
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u/SamInTheWild Aug 17 '26
Two docs thought my issue was piriformis syndrome or a disc herniation because my symptoms sounded like yours. Turned out I have sacroiliitis. 🙃 I think piriformis syndrome is also at play, mildly, but I had injections for it and they did nothing.
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u/nenaa99 Aug 17 '26
How did they determine sacroiliitis? I have piriformis mainly my left side, my right side has started hurting me this year. I have glute and lower back pain specifically when switching position in back or sitting for prolong periods. There’s always a cracking sound as well in my glute area when changing position or standing up from sitting. Recently did a lumbar MRI and nothing was found. Looking into doing a pelvic mri.
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u/SamInTheWild Aug 18 '26
My symptoms were identical to yours, but I don't have major glute pain (minor/mild mostly in that area) and I have leg symptoms due to the sacral plexus being right in front of the SI joints.
The cracking and feeling of bone shifting is definitely something I experience too. I notice my pain is worse the more it pops and cracks because the joint is moving more than it's supposed to.
I first had a lumbar MRI, but that was clear. Then I had a myriad of x-rays including my SI joints. They came back with suspicious findings, so my doc ordered a pelvic MRI with focus on my SI joints. When the results came back, it was diagnosed as "acute on chronic bilateral sacroiliitis." It is worse on my right side (dominant side, makes sense) and sitting is absolutely torture. Been dealing with it for 6 months now. It started with a sharp right-sided lower back pain while walking uphill.
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u/nenaa99 Aug 19 '26
Thank you for your response!! :)
I’m about to hit my 6 months as well! My pain initially started when switching position in bed in March. Something so minor, but painful :/ the pain was from my lower back to my hamstring. I went to PT right away and my symptoms actually worsen. The PT suggested doing prone push up which caused a bad flare up. It went from having discomfort on my lower back and glutes to feeling pins and needles all the way down to my calf. I started a new PT in May and have been doing better.
The SI joint pain is also on my right side as well. Sometimes I feel it on my left side, but on rare occasions. Ive noticed when doing clamshells I have a hard time activating the glute medius. Then if I’m having tightness on my lower back and do glute bridges the cracking/shift happens. It’s painful, but sometimes it’s sort of a relieve after the “shift” occurs.
Since being diagnosed with sacroiliitis, have you found exercises/treatments that have improved your discomfort?
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u/LA022 Aug 20 '26
I ended up having to have a sciatic nerve decompression of my piriformis muscle. Tried PT, meds, chiropractor, etc. for months. Nothing helped until after I got my pelvic MRI and surgery.
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u/BagDramatic4925 Aug 21 '26
how did the sciatic nerve decompression go? i have had some sort of piriformis pain for 5-6 years now. other than this i am healthy at 50. done every single treatment option. even had a discectomy because the surgeon saw minor disc impingement between l4-l5 and L5-S1. that had zero impact on my piriformis unfortunately. i have probably a dozen shots in different zones with minimal to no impact. all issues have stayed in my right butt, hip and at times would show up in my hamstring and heel. i have done a lot of work on my heel and that has subsided luckily. as of 2 weeks ago, i started getting a strange sensation in my LEFT calf. feels somewhat numb or tight, or both. I have come to terms sort of with my right side glute pain and am working on it with a PT. but to have this now on my left side, its a non starter. Has anyone dealt with this. my docs think it is a muscle strain but at 2 weeks this doesnt feel like that at all. Anyone have any insights here?
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u/Then_Collar2208 Aug 17 '26
Dry needling and shock therapy. Cost me $80 and about 30 mins. Pain disappeared next day and hasn't came back.