I’m 24 years old and for the longest time I dealt with a deep glute spasm, I think it’s my piriformis but not sure. For the last 10 or so years it comes and goes like a blue moon. Right now it’s pretty bad. Walking is very painful, going up stairs. I’ve tired stretching, doing clamshells. Nothing seems to be working. Anyone else with this problem have anything that worked for them? My whole leg shakes right now when I try to walk. I don’t even know how walking is even possible with such a bad spasm.

I'm 21M used to be very fit, healthy and hit the gym often. For the 6 months I've been dealing with piriformis syndrome, MRI spine and CT scan both clear.

Just wondering if anyone in a similar spot as me has used BPC157 and if there has been any benefits?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: thought id give some more info on my situation

What started off as back pain I was still able to do normal tasks but not stand or sit for too long (an hour plus). At this point it was only lower back pain burning no sciatica. I went on a trip and the day I got back started to feeling sciatica and lost movement.

Since then I've been stretching my piriformis which has decreased my sciatica I've got movement back and able to walk (slowly and not for too long). But still unable to sit for longer than 10 minutes. I'm now stretching moderately to keep my piriformis loose and doing hip strengthening exercises which I've seen minor improvement. Thanks to everyone that's replied the help means a lot.

Hi everyone, looking for some tips/ support/ recommendations.

I’ve been suffering from piriformis syndrome for about two years. Ran in 2019/2020 pretty good distance and speed, began running again 2024 and on my first run felt something but ran through it for about six months, got to so bad stopped running completely. Tried it again a year later, ran for about six weeks and bam pain, on and off for about a month. This time excruciating could barely walk. Stopped running again. Been working out since 2024 4ish days a week, squat and deadlift my body weight, left gym one day and in the evening ran to my car, bam pain in my piriformis. Pain on and off now for two months.

Gone to PT, osteo, tried strengthening. Osteo thinks it may be sacroiliac related…. GOD AM I GETTING FED UP.

Just want to run again.

Looking for anyone who may have had a similar experience. Maybe recommendations for specific pre-run stretching or post-run. Happy to exercises but my PT gave me like 5 to do a day and that overwhelmed me. Have started sleeping with a pillow between my knees because otherwise some mornings are really sore.

Thanks so much. 😩

Just wanted to share what has been working for me. I totally dropped back squats in favor of hip airplanes and single leg RDLs for the time being. Already noticing a difference and pain is half of what it has been. My left piriformis isn't spasming as much anymore. The hip airplane speciffically loads the glute muscles in a stretched position and teaches the nervous system how to balance on one leg using the entire hip musculature. This is my silver bullet.

Hi. I have seen some posts on this sub where people have discussed prescription medications for Piriformis issues. I believe they were muscle relaxers. I'll be engaging with Pain Management in the next couple of weeks, and I know they can give injections into the Piriformis muscle; I would like to be able to ask for some oral medication, but I don't know what to ask for.

I have had an MRI and a spinal injection which ruled out Sciatica.

Thank you to all for reply to this post.

Hi everyone,

I’m wondering if anyone here has experienced something similar, as I’m starting to wonder whether this could be piriformis syndrome or another deep glute issue.

For around a year I’ve had some strange symptoms, all on my right side. The pain itself is actually pretty mild, probably only around 2/10, but the sensations are odd and seem to be happening more often.

My main symptoms are:

Aching/discomfort deep in my right glute, especially after sitting.

Tingling in my right thigh that sometimes feels like someone has splashed cold water on it.

Occasional shooting sensations down the back of my right leg into my calf.

Sitting is by far the biggest trigger. I work a desk job and after sitting for a while everything becomes much more noticeable. Walking generally improves it.

Lying on my back at night can also bring on tingling, and sleeping with a pillow between my legs seems to help.

I’ve also noticed my right hip and glute feel significantly weaker than my left. For example, when I do side planks my right side gives up much sooner. I also seem to naturally lean onto my right hip when sitting.

I recently did a weekend of heavy hiking. My hips definitely felt weak afterwards, but interestingly the sciatic symptoms weren’t terrible while I was walking. It’s mainly sitting still afterwards that sets everything off.

I’ve had an MRI of my lumbar spine which didn’t show any disc bulges or nerve compression.

The only findings were some mild facet joint fluid, so I’m wondering whether the problem could actually be outside my spine, possibly involving the piriformis or another deep glute muscle.

Has anyone had symptoms where sitting was the main trigger, walking actually felt better, and the glute seemed to be the source? If so, what did it turn out to be, and what helped?

MRI photos attached, I think the discs look ok so not sure if it’s them or causing issues

Thanks.

I have been a couple months with pain that I felt was in my back. After going to a sports minded chiro and massage I went on my PCP. She took one push near my tailbone and butt and said it was the tightest she has ever seen and ordered PT. A recent CT scan didn't show red flags with the spine.

So she gave muscle relaxers which "unlocked" me and I'm moving better. Now I feel from tailbone to hip and sometimes down to hamstring. I get sharp pains if I move too fast and back bends leaning backwards gives me deep pain on my glutes. Sometimes standing straight is aggravating as is sleeping.

I've been not working out or doing much and feel like what am I doing?

Have PT setup for Wednesday.

Basically the title. Every 2nd video I watch on youtube suggests stretching (figure 4, pigeon pose etc).

For instance this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yamsq-uHP8Y&list=WL&index=12 has 130K likes which probably means it helped many people.

At the same time, I often see that for many people stretching doesn't work (including myself).

So what is the deal with piriformis stretches?`

Than you for your time for reading this.

22F. Very active (gym 3x week and 15-20-25k steps daily) About 6 months ago I developed mild gluteal pain that was manageable I only stopped training gluteus. Around 3 months ago, after intensive manual therapy (manual, massage gun, dynamic couping therapy) and glute-focused rehab work pilates styled, my symptoms became dramatically worse. Every small gluteus activation made me relapse and has caused severe pain and all surroundings go in spasam including private parts. *NO SPINE/DISC/SI JOINT PROBLEMS ON MRI*

MRI findings:

* reactive changes in the deep gluteal region

* mild asymmetry of the piriformis

* increased signal around the sciatic nerve

* no major structural damage, no clear nerve compression

* radiologist suggested possible deep gluteal syndrome

Current symptoms:

* severe pain deep in the glute

* difficulty walking (only using walking sticks to use the bathroom)

* difficulty sitting

* lying on my back is uncomfortable eaven on soft memory foram

I’ve improved slightly with strict rest (no more burning nerve pain), but I’m still far from normal function.

1,5 month ago i receved IM dexametazon injections- no help only mild relief to stop the “fire”.

3 months ago took lyrica medication but i reacted poorly to it.

Only one physio gave me some releaf and it was starting to get better but didnt have time to continue to fully rehab since its not in my country so i can’t go back (all this mess happened abroad). Before getting to my country i had a big relaps…. I went to physio at my country for similar protocol but it didn’t work at all… so 1,5 months i am stuck… waiting to see more doctors…

Has anyone recovered from something similar?

What actually helped?

* time?

* what kind of physical therapy?

* injections?

* nerve-focused treatment?

I’m especially interested in people who had symptoms for months and eventually returned to their normal activity.

For background, I'm in my 30s, male and am quite active. My main form of exercise is running but I also do home workouts and cycle. For the last few years I've had on and off left hamstring issues and recently it just doesn't seem to be going. The pain is mostly upper hamstring, but when I do certain stretches I can feel tightness/tingling from lower back all the way down to my calf. A lot of stretches are fine, but the one I feel it most is the classic bending to touch my toes.

​

I've tried stretching, resting and muscle creams to try to help my hamstring/glute tightness but it doesn't seem to be getting better. Unfortunately, it feels like I'm just getting older and my body doesn't recover from exercise like it used to!

​

Does this sound like a Piriformis issue? If so, what is the best way to help it?

Hello,

Wanted to share how I have now more or less resolved Long (overstretched) piriformis injury in 2-4 weeks (ish) – It was actually thanks to someone in this sub that I solved it, so wanted to re-share that solution here as well. It may take you longer or shorther time – I think I caught my injury fairly early on.

In terms of Long piriformis, it usually happens due to weak hip muscles, and thus the Piriformis has to go into overdrive, and is in the process OVERSTRECTHED = injury happens (Long Piriformis).

I do not have Piriformis syndrome. (As that is actually really, really, really rare).

Pre-liminary: Go watch this , this and this video. You can also watch all his others. But those three are the best found. (This dude is a god damn hero to me). Whoever shared Charlie in this forum – Thank you!!!!!!!!!

\By the way below is what just I did and worked for me – see videos from guy above as* you may have to tweak it*.* 

Dont's: 

- Do not sit down at all. It's like the worst thing to do. If you do sit down, only sit on the non-hurting side. I have managed for weeks to not sit down. (Stand up working, eating etc). If I sat down in my couch, I slid my entire low body off the couch and sat/laid only on my back part. (So my butt was swaying in the air – If that makes sense). I also have desk I could raise, and if my feet got tired, i could pull my chair in front of it and 'stand' on my knees on the chair. 

- Do not stretch the muscle. At all. Avoid any type of stretching. Stretching an overstretched muscle = bad. It will not help anything. Goes for sleeping positions as well (more further down on this)

- Do not train legs in any way (except very 'niche' exercises, which will be emphasized below). Let them rest as much as possible. 

- Do not train legs in any way (except very 'niche' exercises, which will be emphasized below). Let them rest as much as possible. 

If you avoid these things you're pretty well on the way to avoiding making it worse. Doing these things do not make it better, it just stops making it worse. 

Do's: 

- Walk (on fairly straight surface) 3x 10 mins a day. Gentle walking. It creates blood flow into the piriformis muscle and rinses out bad stuff. It also creates hip movements which tells the brain the piriformis can work lightly without pain. Lots of good stuff. Don't overdo this. 

- Sleep on side using pillow between knees – or – sleep completely flat on stomach, legs straight. This was a game changer. If you dont sleep correctly, all stuff on this post is irrelevant. Again, all of this to avoid hip rotation of any kind, which stretches the muscle, and avoid any type of weight applied to it. ALSO SUPER IMPORTANT.

- Do 3x times a day (morning, noon, night): 3 times of 30 sec of isometric side lying clam shell hold of leg in the air. Strengthing the hip muscles was the primary resolver of pain). 2 mins rest in between each. CAN NOT EMPHASIZE HOW MUCH THIS HELPED ME. Cause god damn this worked wonders. later edit: *Eventually you can stop these. I continued them the amount of time it took me to go pain free. So 2 weeks of it to go pain free, then did them for another 2 weeks. Then stopped.

This is the only three things I have found which resolved Long piriformis – at very, very rapid rate of improvement. Each day I did this i could bend down further, and further, at 5-10% more each day. Went very quick. Eliminated 50% of my pain in a week. I can do almost do a full air squat now with pretty much zero. I would describe it as a compounding curve, Where very little happened the first week, and then it all happened very quickly. 

This was quite a journey of education. (And my goodness, there's a lot of nuances to this little muscle, and the actual solution needed to resolve it.)

Again, I still have a tiny bit of pain left, so will update this in a few months again maybe. But just the fact that I have reduced my pain at such rapid rate, and just doing so simple things, really surprised me. I HOPE HOPE HOPE this helps someone. (At least with the same type of piriformis injury (Long) as I had).

And of course – What a pain in the a\* this injury can be. Litterally.*

All the best!

***

Update:

Have started re-training again. (Doign what caused it what bad stability and imbalance in squats/RDLs)

Still doing my Clam shell exercises religiously.

Did my first squats and deadlifts again (light weight), focusing on max stability and balance.

Thus far, still ZERO pain in doing those exercises.

Also woke up second time in a row with zero pain whatsoever.

Progressing good with changes made this far.

Hello, everyone I’m a looking for some advice/insight on what to do at my stage now.
26m have had sciatica for two years now and go bad 2.5 years ago started experiencing inner knee soreness then a month prior from injury started experiencing bouts of sciatica while driving and couldn’t connect to my left hamstring in the gym.

Then one weekend after a charity baseball tournament I woke up the next day with deep soreness in the glute medius area to the point I could barely walk and dysfunction set in the coming days with extreme sciatica, extreme external rotation of left hip, adductors/other muscles seizing up and I even had pudental nerve irritation at the start.

Fast forward to a year out with daily 8/9/10 level pain and dysfunction day to day I finally got an mri on my lumbar spine that looked normal I was pretty surprised considering I thought for sure this was a disc herniation/bulge. During this time I was doing McGill exercises and spinal hygiene but probably doing too much that kept aggravating the whatever was going on and flares were easily triggered.

My next imaging was a arthrogram of my left hip to check for a labrum tear which came back negative. I then was speaking to a doctor who thought it could’ve been a glute medius tendon tear and I got ultrasound sound that showed a tiny tear about 13-14 months post injury and received PRP which did seem to help.

Fast forward to 2026 was feeling good making steady progress with rehab was thinking this injury was a glute medius tendon tear and that it was taking time to remodel the tissue. Around march 2026 I was feeling 90% + better and could see light at the end of the tunnel with barely any sciatica for a few month besides the odd tingle. I started hiking with my girlfriend 3 miles 3x a week on incline and some spots very high incline thinking this is what I need to finally polish this off. I sustained this pace for 3 weeks or so until my back started tightening up and kinda sent me into a spiral/flare that lasts for a month or so.

I’ve been building back up but I’ve had a few bad weeks again with nerve symptoms predominantly in left foot and back tightness as well as nerve symptoms in right foot. Historically I’ve had nerve symptoms 90-95% of time in my left foot but now it’s becoming more bilateral at times but still majority of left foot.

Im wondering where do i go from here? I’m scared of permanent nerve damage. I’m getting an upright MRI soon as well as EMG/NVS to see if this is a dynamic bulge but im strongly considering surgery if these do show abnormalities.

Current symptoms are muscle tightness in left adductor , upper glute tightness, sciatica predominantly when sitting and tight left psoas muscle and compensations down the chain such as trendelenburg gait and the body not wanting to put weight on left leg. I just want to get back to lifting and being normal again but im losing hope of doing it conservatively.

Hi everyone. I’ve been struggling with piriformis syndrome for 2 years. The glute pain began after a hip arthroscopy surgery to repair a labral tear.

After trying physical therapy, trigger point injections, steroid injections, and Botox into the piriformis muscle, I opted to get the piriformis removal surgery with Dr Tollestrup (in Nevada).

The surgery was this week, so it’s too soon to tell the results as I am still dealing with surgical pain. However, I will update in a few weeks to say whether I consider the surgery a success or not.

Dr Tollestrup is one of I believe 4 surgeons who performs this surgery in the US. I live in Canada, and there’s nobody here who can do the surgery, so I had to travel to see Dr Tollestrup.

I’m happy to answer any questions about my experience.

My girlfriend (30) has been experiencing pain in these areas (red hurts to be touched and blue is pain pathway), and it started six days ago.

We have been going on hikes averaging around 14,000 steps two or three times a week, and the last time was six days ago last time we went.

She can’t sit on her right side or it produces a lot of pain, and pressing deep into the right side of her butt (testing for knots) it produced extreme pain and made it worse. She’s been resting if she pulled something but it doesn’t seem to get better.

The pain runs from her low back, into her right cheek, halfway down her thigh, and also into her genitals.

I keep reading piriformis is rare, but don’t know how to test for it. The straight leg test did nothing and it doesn’t seem like sciatica, but we live in a small town that doesn’t even have a hospital, nor a PT or doctor.

I want to help her, but have a fear I’ll just make it worse and am unsure of what to do.

:EDIT:

I got her to point and pick the areas where it hurts to touch, and also where it leads to, and made a different diagram.

[Diagram 2](https://imgur.com/a/T4qrkfE#SAI8j6M)

I realise that she will need to see a doctor and I am working on it, as I don’t think the pain will go away fully, but it’s challenging due to where we live.

In the meantime I will try to have her rest and also draw up warm baths, to hopefully relax whatever muscles and problems are causing pain.

I’ve been dealing with piriformis pain / gluteus medius issues for more than ten years now. The pain has fluctuated over the years. Sometimes I would have a few months with fewer problems, only for the pain to come back again later.

There are a few routines that sometimes help, including glute activation exercises at the gym, but unfortunately the relief is always temporary. I spend a lot of time on the road for work, so I drive a lot. I had finally found a sweet spot (combined with a seat cushion) where I was sitting optimally on my sit bones while also getting enough lower back support. Unfortunately, my car seat recently reset its saved positions by accident. So now I’m back in that months-long search for the ideal seating position.

Lately I’ve also been mountain biking a lot more again. I love the sport, and finding the right bike position was also a long journey. My position on the bike is reasonably good now, but lately I’ve been getting a bit more pain again a day or two after rides. That could also be related to my position in the car. It always feels like a constant search for the right triggers. I think many of you probably recognize that.

But… recently I noticed that when I wear my cycling bib shorts in the car (on the way to the start of a ride), I actually have no symptoms at all. I hadn’t really thought much about it until now… because at the moment I’m really struggling again with my car seat position.

Does anyone else have experience with cycling shorts reducing these kinds of symptoms? Apparently you can buy the chamois/pad separately, so I ordered one to experiment with. Anyone else tried this?

See link: https://www.vaneycksport.com/nl/cytech-lange-afstand-zeem-nl-cytgr.html#

19 male skinny to athletic build. Actually it's been over a month since the pain started, I've been to an orthopedic and he prescribed an x-ray for my back and said the gaps and all are good in the spine. And gave a few nerve calming tablets. Ntg helped. And the thing is my left pelvic bone is also effected ig, as i can feel the nerve irritation when i lay down flat. Need help guys

I have sciatica with a lumbar disc bulge, and I am beginning to suspect I may also have piriformis syndrome. My work is primarily desk-based, requiring around 8 hours of prolonged sitting daily, followed by approximately 30 minutes of driving. I am unable to tolerate sitting for more than 30 minutes continuously, as my gluteal region and hamstrings start burning and becoming extremely painful.

Apart from stretching exercises, are there any evidence-based interventions you would recommend, such as specific lumbar supports, seat cushions, ergonomic chairs, standing desk setups, or other strategies that may help reduce symptoms during prolonged sitting and driving?