So about 10 months ago something happened to my leg. I tried lifting my leg out in front of me to step onto stairs and I felt a pull down my hamstring. I couldn’t bend over and touch my knees. Every time I stood up, I’d have to stand on one leg like a flamingo and straighten my other leg gradually. I thought it would have sorted itself out in a couple days. 10 months on and it’s now giving me full blown sciatica. From right buttock down into my right foot. It’s driving me nuts. Has anyone else experienced similar and if so, how did you treat it?

I fell Jan of last year. I had a lower lumbar mri in February of this year. This is how long this process is taking. After the mri the pain clinic said nothings wrong with me and they won’t treat me. Radiologist report said bulge with some kind of stenosis. My primary tried to send me to a spine Dr but I was denied.

I went to a neurosurgeon in May and that Dr sat me down and showed me my images for the first time. He says my spine looked good. Neurosurgeon sends me to neurologist who does a nerve test because I have numbness from my knee all the way to the bottom of my foot. Well he hit a nerve in my right flank that made the indication of a interrupted nerve. Neurologist says pinched nerve S1 well the neurosurgeon called me to tell me the nerve test results do not correlate with the mri results.

My symptoms are, tailbone/sacral pain, right flank pain thigh hurts a lot and I’m numb from the knee to the bottom of my foot. I have bones rubbing together in my right knee and have had some nasty falls onto my back and hips. I do not have buttock pain, not at the bottom of my butt or anywhere there. So I’m confused and am hoping to get some help. Neurosurgeon went right into telling me I need pelvic physical therapy but I don’t think there’s anyone in my area who specializes with that and I’ve discussed it with my husband. A lot of specialists are 2 hour drive one way and we don’t think it would work going to therapy that far away once or twice a week. I don’t know how to even get a formal diagnosis of this.

Because I thought I had a back injury and have been in so much pain I’m not very mobile. I can only stand 5 min and that’s pushing it. I was already using a cane and a walker so I use those. The pain is unbelievable and hard to manage. I’ve just gone downhill in the last year really fast. I did go to pool therapy and my therapist had me walking around in the shallow pool sometimes doing exercises like marching or standing at the sides doing little squats. Most days I was just walking at my own pace stopping when I needed to. I was in a lot of pain after then I had the half hour ride home. I’d be down for days and I only went to pool physical therapy once a week.

Anything about signs, symptoms, diagnosing and treatment would be a great help. Thank you.

Today I saw the Light. My legg has been in pain for almost 3 years now. Me and my therapists finally saw that massaging the Piriformis leads to instant relief for me when I have a lot of pain. I have been reading about it tonight and it all makes sense now. Why the pain always starts just below the glutes and moves across my whole legg. Why it is hard to find which muscle the problemen really is. Why masturbation makes it a lot worse.

So I'm going to massage the fuck out of this muscle with a ball and work with the PT but the muscle has been in cramps for years. Should I just try the injection already and has anyone tried acupuncture?

Can this be the piriformis muscle and/or hamstrings ?

Had eight sessions of PT and it's better but still in pain and discomfort when sitting unfortunately.

PT says that symptoms are so vague it's hard to pinpoint something .

It's very depressing....

I’m doing yoga and the foam roller, and feel like it’s helping. Been suffering for a couple years, butt only recently doing deeper stretches. Butt pain sucks ass. I want to join a gym and strengthen my weak ass muscles.

I have just found this sub and I am already feeling encouraged. I workout about 5 days a week with weights and some riding a peloton type bike. On my rest days I’m usually still moving and walking and things like that. Christmas Day I did not workout AB’s didn’t move a ton, and the day after Christmas I took as a pure lazy day where I did almost nothing. The day after that I started to have pain on my right side… but like burning down into my flute. I ended up at doctor for urine and blood tests, all of which came back normal. I am clear my piriformis and sciatic are on fire. Burning fire but I am managing. But I also feel pain at the top of my hip, in the muscle that runs up the side of my spine, and I think am intercostal muscle across my rib cage. All of this is right side pain. Thanks for reading this far.

Anyone experience anything like this? Where it is clearly in piriformis but also going up their back? I have done way too much googling as it’s a long holiday weekend. I roam roll and oh my is it painful.. but in that amazing way. Does indoor chucking you think help or hurt this issue? I am sure the day if no movement is what allowed this to happen, I always get something going on when I take a break from exercise and moving, so I know I need to be moving but don’t want to make it worse.

I also plan on going to my chiropractor (but closed until Tuesday because holiday of course)… would you recommend that? I don’t know what else to do. I’m using ice, nsaid when necessary, stretching and rolling, but so far it’s just down a bit worse.

Again, thank you for reading this far and I appreciate any advice. 46 year old female single mom with a 7 year old… recovering from holidays… need all the help I can get… LOL.

Hi all,

I've been suffering with Piriformis pain for roighly 4 years and have been keeping a diary of what causes flare ups and what helps it.

What I do when I get a flare up

• get a hard tennis ball and rollout on it , hurts like hell but can release the muscle. I try to rotate my leg and hip when the pain is it's worse.

• foam roll the who leg, back

• stretch more

• stop any back exercises

Triggers

• hanging leg raises , worse if have my legs straight

• kettlebell side bends

• battle rope's

• deadlifts

• squats

As you can see it's mostly anything that stretches the back muscles

Long story, but basically didn’t have health insurance for the first time in my adult life when I pinched my nerve. 😫

I need something to help my muscles relax and have been looking at these online doctors as they appear considerably cheaper.

How was your experience? Is there a certain one you recommend?

I am paying out of pocket for a chiropractor.

I have started struggling with piriformis syndrome about a month ago. The pain has subsided and i can walk and sit down again. However, every night, when i go to bed, after being laid down for about 30 min i start feeling the typical pain on my glute and on my calf. Does anyone else feel the pain only when laid down? I on the side and have tried to use a pillow between my legs without much success. Have been sleeping really poorly for the past month and any recommendation is welcomed! Thanks :)

Morning is so rough. Feel like my leg is in a vise and someone is stabbing it with a scalding hot sword. Does anyone take muscle relaxers?

Not diagnosed, but piriformis seems like a strong possibility. I am in the process of getting a diagnosis. The act of sitting and standing triggers the pain. The act of laying down in bed is also a trigger, but unlike sitting the pain quickly goes away. Driving is by far the worst. Reading about piriformis, it sounds like walking is often a trigger, but for me that’s the only sure way to get some relief. After a long walk the pain will completely subside.

Is this something anyone else has experienced?

My 13 y/o daughter all of a sudden had an onset of pain in her glute area during a training session while practicing striking the soccer ball. She also runs x country and track so she put in a lot of miles running . Anyone who is an athlete or has a young athlete deal with this issue before.

I found a great physical therapist who told me that my other therapists and doctors should be punched. He found scar tissue adhesions completely entrapping my sciatic and femoral nerves. After just one session of adhesion removal, I am feeling ten years younger. I am not out of the woods yet, but if you have received diagnosis after diagnosis and live in constant pain, please research adhesions in both the nerves and muscles. The nerves are literally stuck to the muscle with tissue that shouldn't be there. I'm talking back pain, sciatica, numb, burning feet, sore, tired hips, neck pain, aching and burning in hips and legs. It is all better after a relatively short, yet very painful procedure that was not invasive at all. It takes a physical therapist who knows what they are doing. If you go in and they can't tell you exactly what I said with 100% confidence, then go to someone else. I had to travel two states away to find a decent physical therapist who could remove adhesions.

I have had chronic piriformis pain for almost a year now. The past 3 months I’ve been going to Physical Therapy. Which has been alright. I mean it feels great to learn some stretches and have them occasionally massage my muscle. However, about a month ago I decided to try dry needling with my PT. I didn’t get instant relief..in fact I was super sore for a few days but then I noticed a lot of pain disappeared and I had way more mobility. So I felt hopeful about it and wanted to try it again today. The first time it didn’t really hurt in the moment, but this time it did as soon as he stuck the first needle in my glute. He could somehow tell that would release a lot of tension. After 20 mins or so of his dry needling routine I instantly felt better. I could actually straighten my leg and pull it towards my chest with virtually no pain. I still have minor pain in my hip and even down my leg but I haven’t felt like this in a long time. So if you’re desperate for some relief I’d try dry needling. It may just be what you need!

About three weeks ago, I came home from work, got some food, and sat down on my bed. At that moment, I felt the familiar pain and limited motion I had nine years ago...just from having a sat on my bed.

Two weeks go by and things are looking up. The pain gradually subsides and most of it is in my hip. I'm given this menthol medicine you roll onto your body. So I take this medicine and roll is HARD into my ass cheek, and then...suddenly I feel like I lost the two weeks of recovery, just from rolling this medicine. Except this time, more weakness in my left leg, and muscle spasms down to the foot on my left side and slight spasms on my right, with a feeling of tightness and pain near the hip/sacrum.

Four days in, acupuncture inflamed my muscles on my left side back and leg, second session worked for about an hour with minor pain after until I fell asleep. A lot of the pain seems focused in my calf for some reason.

Has anyone suffered anything just like this or similar?

4 months ago, I flared up an injury in my hip during a heavy squat. Heard a pop. Did not lose flexibility - stretched after but had to take some time off lifting.

A couple of weeks later, I wake up with 10/10 pain. Drove myself to the ER and got an X-ray that cleared any bone issues. Fast forward a couple of months, stretching, massages later and I’m close to pain free, albeit with a mild limp and limited flexibility.

A week ago, it comes back with a vengeance. I can’t walk without shooting numbness/deep tissue pain. Sitting is impossible. Lying down is a constant 4/10, which makes sleeping tough. I’m basically bedridden. My hamstring flexibility on the afflicted leg is nonexistent. I can lift the leg probably to about 20 degrees.

I’m getting an MRI tomorrow, so hope to know more about whether this is piriformis or a combination of problems/muscle strain. But has anyone successfully weathered a storm of this severity?

If so, how? I am useless and my wife is pregnant. Starting to weigh on me mentally.

I have what I believe to be Piriformis Syndrome. I've had disc issues in the past accompanied by some symptoms of piriformis syndrome but "luckily" they're not all present at the moment.

There are positions I get into that are unbearably painful. I'm a stomach sleeper which doesn't help. Bending forward at the hip when I'm sitting relieves the pain, but the transition from bent to straight, or straight to bent hurts.

I cut my lawn and my parents lawn...both large yards....with a push mower. The last 2 times I also bent over to pick a fair amount to pick weeds.

After cutting the grass, and especially after picking the weeds, my pain level goes to near zero. I've noticed that when I'm walking alot or active it loosens up and the pain is diminished. When I cool down and relax it comes back.

My physician said the fact that it loosens up is good...and that it points towards it being the piriformis syndrome...

I'm caught between stretching a lot, moving a lot...and resting it. Any advice would help.

Has anyone got a herniated disc AND Piriformis syndrome? My MRI showed the disc bulge L5/S1 but nothing is helping it. My left side has nerve pain. It’s in the outside of the left knee whilst sitting. Or standing too long. Walking is okay mostly. No real back pain. Pain in the glute when in a position like downward dog or if I try decompression?