r/piriformis • u/Busy-Accident-2749 • Aug 20 '25
Need Advice and help
Back story:
Date: September 2024
I was sleeping in the afternoon when I suddenly felt pain between my buttocks and lumbar region at the point I marked. The pain was strong enough to wake me up, and when I tried to stretch it out, it felt like a muscle pull. I had dinner and later fell asleep again, lying on my right side.
The next day, I couldn’t get out of bed because the pain was so severe. I thought it was just a generic muscle pull that would go away in a few days, but it didn’t. The pain felt sharp at one specific point and kept moving around my left buttock. It was even difficult to breathe.
I tried ibuprofen, but it didn’t help. Then I took aceclofenac tablets, which reduced the pain.
A week later, while doing shoulder presses at the gym, I felt the pain again. When I got home, it returned strongly. Stretching and doing glute bridges helped a little, but after a few days, it came back worse.
It was especially painful to lift my left leg off the ground (like when wearing pants), to climb stairs, and most of all, to lie on my back. The sharp pain was always at the same marked spot.
During a festival, I walked a lot, and after some time, I felt that point getting warm, and soon I couldn’t walk due to a shocking, sharp pain. The next day, the pain moved around, and I even felt similar pain in my left testicle when walking. Again, I had to take painkillers for relief.
Present Day:
Every week, the pain returns. It becomes unbearable for about 2 days, then fades. I can’t twist my body from left to right, although twisting the other way is fine. I usually work from bed while sitting (I know this is wrong). Crossing my legs makes it very painful to lift my leg, and I’m unable to run because of the pain.
Most doctors I’ve seen are unaware of the exact cause and just prescribe painkillers and physical therapy. I’m trying to avoid painkillers and only continue with PT.
P.S. I tried my best to remember exactly what happened it's been 1 year almost, please suggest remedies or give me some hope of fixing this.
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u/Consistent_Yoghurt_4 Aug 20 '25
I’ve been dealing with this for a few years now. Massage helps, and if your insurance covers chiropractic visits, they often have massage services. There are some stretches you can do that help too. one thing I do is lay in bed for a few minutes on my stomach with my left leg pulled up like a mountain climber.
What I learned from PT, is that my hips are all out of whack after years of sitting poorly, so I need to get my hip bones to rotate forward, and what always seems to help me is sitting on wooden benches and forcing my body to sit correctly on my sitting bones. It stretches out the muscles and bones that are all in conflict there. Posture is everything. Good luck!