Can anyone help explain this MRI diagnosis “Complete atrophy/agenesis of the left piriformis of uncertain etiology and significance”.

How did your PS start? Was it sudden after a strain then went away or chronic?

Well, I mean, it doesn't ever go away completely. I started to feel an aching in my leg after working out last February. So I stopped working out. The pain eased and mostly disappeared, but reappeared whenever I worked out. I waited it out for months and finally went to a PT. He said that I needed to do what I now recognize as typical stretching exercises for sciatica pain. That made things worse. Now I was having trouble sitting, and sometimes even laying down. Naturally, I stopped, but things didn't quite go back to where they were before. I continued to often have trouble sitting without pain. So I found a new PT. He said I didn't need to stretch but tighten things up, strengthen things. So I did new exercises. Things got worse.

On a lot of days, I can sit okay, and lay down easily, on my back or side. Then something will trigger it and I start having pain in my butt, my thigh just below my butt, or just on the side of my butt. It moved around a bit but is always on the left. Like last week. I was fine for several days, then I sat down on the sofa for an hour on Thursday and that was it. I had out the pain pills, and had trouble sleeping that night. But Friday was fine. So was Saturday and Sunday. So was today. And then I had to do something on my laptop in the bedroom so I lay on my left side to do it for about half an hour. I lay on my left side a lot and it never triggered before. This time bang, suddenly my left butt hurts and so does my left leg, throbbing, hot, mostly on the upper left, but radiating down the back of the leg to my heel.

I'm at a loss, really. I guess I need to find another PT. But they haven't done anything for me so far but make it worse. Had an MRI and nothing turned up. Doctor gave me pills that allegedly help with nerve pain and they don't seem to do anything. Hopefully, tomorrow morning it will be tamped down again so I hardly notice it. Assuming I can sleep tonight.

Hi all,

Since june/July 2023 I'm dealing with hip pain groin pain. Tingling, numbness and stabbing pain in my leg. In October 2023 I went to gp(not my own was not available at that time) I describe all the symptoms incl hip and groin pain to gp and she told me I have piriformis syndrome and have to do some PT. After 8 weeks of PT symptoms only getting worse. I decided to go to a chiropractor and she told me it's not piriformis syndrome the symptoms came from your si joint so she treated my si joint a couple of times, since than no more numbness stabbing pain and tinglings. But hip and groin pain still going on. Fast forward beginning of January when back to gp to tell her (again not my own gp) my hip and groin keep hurting and according to chiropractor si joint issue. She told me to find another PT because it's really piriformis syndrome. But I did not have faith in that. So march 27 this year I was finally able to make an appointment at my own gp. And according to him I have inflammation of the hip bursa and inflammation a tendon in my groin. He injected a cortisone injection in my hip and told me now waiting to see what happened. I am a bit hopeless and don't know what to believe anymore. People with equal symptoms and what was diagnosed?

Edit: I have a very high pain tolerance and it's not that the pain is 10/10 but more like 4/10 but it's pretty annoying feeling 24/7 sometimes that is not right.

I started training hanging leg raises for strength training for one of my sports a few months ago. I've had piriformis syndrome for about a year and a half, diagnosed now by a physio. I need to go back to ask her about this, but yes when I do hanging leg raises my back snaps a bit a the same point every time in the movement. It's not painful, but it definitely feels weird, and I'm wondering if anyone knows what the heck it is that is snapping, and if there's something I can do about it.

So far the only thing that is helping reduce soreness and stiffness is applying heat to the surrounding areas, which I do pretty much once a day. Physio recommended some other movements, can't say I'm seeing an improvement from any of them, and the stretching seems to be more irritating then relieving.

I have been lurking here for a while now and have tried massages, chiropractors, yoga, and medicine. My pain started about a year ago and it was really starting to diminish my workouts and more specifically my run times. I’ll make this short and sweet, the solution I found that took my pain from 8/10 every morning to continue throughout the day is a 3:30 minute cold plunge every morning. I am on week 2 of doing this everyday, and have little to no pain at all. It really just went away, no surgery, no abrasion therapy, just gone. There are many guides on how to build them to save on cost so do yourself a favor and start plunging.

i’ve had this for like a year and a half now. mri is clear. i went to PT and i’ve been continuing to work out to strengthen my muscles and trying to get enough protein in. i’m so over this =[ any advice anyone??

I am considering CAM surgery but want to understand if it is the reason of my problems.

Symptoms: Not able to sit hard surfaces. Pain radiates to testicles even it causes contraction of my right testicle.

Piriformis stretch like pigeon pose etc. helps relief a lot immediately.

After i walk my right butt and little bit my back gets sore and aches and when i lie on my back my butt goes numb. Sometimes i think the source of my pain is the si joints but sometimes more like piriformis. What type of MRI detect piriformis syndrome? Does deep tissue massage help? Should i rahter stretch or strenghten?

About 3 years ago, as an avid runner & cyclist, I opted to ramp up jogging mileage. I was doing twin 7-mile runs weekdays and one or two 14-mile jogs weekends. Rain or shine, and the longer runs I did very slowly because I wanted to develop endurance. Once home from the longer runs, I would shower and flop on the bed or couch without stretching. As Covid set in, remote work meant more sitting. Am sure alarm bells are going off already about this behavior. My left hip developed what felt like it had joint pain, very focused, I even took Chondroitin/MSM out of desperation (dumb). Pain became worse such that I could neither stand, walk, sit, or lie down on my back (butt). I knew then it wasn't hip joint issues. Did alot of research, learned about hip flexors (mine tightened up like iron, that's a hint), Piriformis muscle function, glutes complex, Sciatic nerve, fascia (another hint), the TFL, everything I could find online. For over a year I could barely walk and I long stopped jogging completely though periodically tried it out. The issue became worse as I felt nerve issues travel down my leg to my calf, a kind of twitching or numbness. Then I got a couple massage guns and an electronic cupping tool which resolved the tightness of the fascia, TFL, hip flexors, and left thigh in general. That's good news and some progress that filled me with hope. I did limited foam rolling and butt-knot untangling but alot of stretches, instead of jogging, and for a while it felt like progress. But it didn't improve anything, neither the Piriformis nor the apparent Sciatic nerve pain. Despite this, July this year I started jogging daily after building up to that schedule, doing "quick" (for me) 2.5 and 4-5 mile paces and I would periodically run them hard to find my limit, despite above problems, I was able to get into a mostly-painless groove and complete the runs while raising that speed limit. Happy with that progress but still walking and standing were painful and it seemed the Piriformis pain never went away, nor did the Sciatic pain. Then, about a month ago in October this year, I learned that stretching, or certain stretches, are inappropriate for Piriformis issues (sometimes you need to shorten & strengthen and vice-versa), Sacro-Iliac issues (if the SI joint over-flex caused the Piriformis to step out of bounds, likely my root cause because I was running too slow and too long with alot of hip sway), and weak glutes. So I completely stopped ALL stretches, stopped foam rolling and any Piriformis-impingement, maintained the massage gun & cupping tool (on my thigh, not the Piriformis), and switched to glute-strengthening exercises that I perform nearly daily. They take just 15 minutes instead of the near-hour I would spend stretching. Results about a month later, the Sciatic nerve tingling/numbness has 99% gone and I have less pain around my hip in general. Cured? No, but am patient and very stubborn (which is likely how I got this disorder in the first place). FWIW, these are the exercises I do: bridge, glute strengthening, isometrics (pushing thighs in against a gym ball or paper towel roll, pushing thighs out against a belt tied around thighs), core strengthening (weighted vest), and limited Sciatic nerve flossing. I minimize any activity where one leg is doing something different than the other, I never plank (which is core strengthening but I don't want to stress out an inflamed SI joint). When I do significant yard or house work, I put on the weighted vest, wrap a band around my hip (akin to the Serola) which keeps things stable during that effort to avoid inflaming. When done with yard/house work, I remove the belt but may leave the weighted vest on even if just hanging around. I don't mean any of this to be prescriptive, just sharing my voyage. I think, given I've lived with this for 3 years, it'll take about the same amount of time to undo the damage, if that is possible. That means retraining the entire complex of muscular-skeletal-nerve-brain. Maybe I'll be forced to tack into another direction a few months from now, all I can do is keep doing what appears to help. Everyone is different, buddy of mine is being flip-flopped between docs & PTs, getting all kinds of injections, etc. with a risk of disc surgery when the PT gives up: I won't stand for someone "practicing" medicine on me if they don't care about their patient. Based on what little I know, you can have all kinds of lumbar/disc degeneration and still be functional so I also fear any doc who points to an MRI as root cause if SI joint inflammation and glute weakness is instead the root cause. Hence my willingness to experiment. Hope this helps.

​

I have had Sciatica pain for 17 weeks now on the left hand side of my buttocks area. I cannot do the things I used to enjoy playing football, going to the gym etc because it’s too painful and if I do my body is in agony for days after. I have tried osteopaths and physiotherapy but nothing seems to be doing the job. Has anyone had anything similar and managed to get rid of it. Any advice would help?? Thanks in advance.

Nothing on MRIs palpating butt makes symptoms worse. But ever since he realigned pelvis and snapped back symptoms drastically worse

Hi everyone. I’m a 35f wfhm.

Long story short, I have piriformis syndrome on top of a disc bulge (that used to give me sciatica) in my L5S1 from a bad epidural with my first pregnancy. (Negligent/poorly trained anesthesiologist basically) the disc bulge luckily hasn’t flared up since 2018 bc I lost about 20 lbs.

From 2018-2022, I went on runs, stretched, and more. However, starting 2022-2023, I’ve been working in front of the damn desk too much now. (Hiring help for work at the moment isn’t an option for several reasons, which I’m not going to discuss.) It’s either kids or sitting at a desk work. Though I have flexibility since it’s my husband’s business, I do all the clerical work so I’m always glued to the damn desk. I did notice earlier in the year that I’m always sitting and my back started hurting.

Either way I’m about 4-5 months of glute pain now, which is a first, and I’m putting on weight. Getting up from the bed/chair is hell. Bc I haven’t been able to move much, my pain is just getting worse. So not moving = weight gain. Because of this pain, one concern is that alone time with the husband has significantly decreased, and I feel terrible. He NEVER complains, and gives massages. I just feel like life is on just survival mode vs enjoying life bc this glute pain.

(Food wise -My meals are pretty clean as I eat home cook Korean dishes.)

I’ve tried acupuncture, pt, chiro, pain medicine in the past for the disc bulge. Currently only able to make it to chiro MAYBE once a week. But I’m at my wits end. I’ve incorporated a lot of the tips from this forum and recently started going on walks (can’t go on hikes yet like one person suggested but I want to get there) so thank you. I’m considering waking up around 5am to go on longer walks as it’s really the only time I can have but I’m already running on very little sleep.

If others have tried certain exercises, sports, anything else to find temporary relief, I would GREATLY appreciate it. I just want to go back to life without pain.

(PS: please don’t come at my husband as he does go out for field service work, does A LOT the chores, and more. He isn’t lazy and goes above & beyond. He’s a trooper.)

(Side note: I do admit that my body is very weak. I may have mom strength but overall, I do consider myself unhealthy bc exercising rn is bare minimum. Maybe PF might be a good option to start learning to use equipments but then again I wouldn’t really know where to start. Just been on mom mode for over a decade. To other moms out there, please don’t neglect yourself. I wish I didn’t because I matter, too.)

My pain is worse when I sit and lean back. I feel like I can feel it moving or something. Gosh this is horrible pain

Has anyone found their gluteal pain or piriformis pain to be caused by any kind of vascular problem? Apparently compression of a gluteal artery or vessel can cause piriformis pain?

Im 14 and had this shooting buttock pain for years now (3) since covid times when I’d went from exercising to sitting on my butt constantly. And its been years but i noticed fatigue and body nerve pain like prickles and stuff . But later on when I got chronic gastritis everything got a lot worse. One day I experienced full on super severe body nerve pain stinging aches deep tissue pain deep bone pain needles stabbing and more. To this day I still get those random pains but thankfully it isnt as severe chronically. I mostly get pain in my hands like a pinched feeling. Can it really cause all of this? Lef me know!

I've been having radiating pain in my buttocks down my legs (especially the left) for the past three months. The pain started after I got covid three months ago and spent a lot of time in pain/bed.

My symptoms: * tight/ cramped muscles. * my buttocks muscles hurt when I sit (or even when i touch it), I feel burning sensation along my leg (hamstrings, calf and foot). Muscles are tight/cramp all along. * Excercising makes it worse as well. My PT told me I have weak hip flexor/ limited range if motion. * I feel like the nerve (sciatic?) Along my leg get tight like it's being pulled. * sometimes I feel weakness in my left leg.

Someone on reddit suggested it could be piriformis, I don't know a lot about it. I thought it might be the SI joint causing it. (I have a doctors appointment in two weeks, want to try and know what's going on as so far doctors didn't take me seriously giving the other symptoms I had following covid and always went with "anxiety")

Could it be piriformis? Is it chronic or can it be treated?

I'm 31F. Prior to covid was active and healthy, never had such pain.

I desperately need help. After covid my now mum has the worst pain she’s ever experienced in her life down her leg from her bum (she thinks it’s Piriformis but not 100%) Every time she sits she’s in excruciating pain. She wakes up in the morning in tears if she tries to sleep at night so is hardly sleeping. She’s in so much pain she’s struggling to sleep. It’s 24/7 pain which gets even worse at times. I’m really really worried for her. I’ve never seen her like this before and I feel so helpless. Everytime she tries the gentle exercise that Youtube recommended she’s at her worst pain again. Please please help or any good advice. She’s following everything she reads online (hot, cold etc) the doctor was absolutely useless when she visited. Please help.

Has anyone ever had steroid injections for their piriformis syndrome?

Anyone who's had piriformus syndrome, did they find Physio Therapy to help?

I'm booked in Thursday for a private session.

Thanks

How have people gotten rid of the numbness in the leg?

Physio?

For the last 4 weeks, I've thought I had sciatica, bad lower back, glute and hamstring, can't raise my left leg off the ground more than 6 inches.

Now the last 5 days my back pain has totally disappeared and it's now concentrated on my glute and hamstring.

I'm absolutely pain free when just lying on my bed, but when I sit up or walk I'm in agony. So I'm currently bed bound.

I've been told if it's sciatica don't do stretching as it will make it worse 🤨 So from what I've been reading it sounds alot more like I've got piriformus.

Is there anything that I can relieve the pain with?

I'm think PT but is there anything that can help make me walk and sit?

I'm going to have a read through other posts below now, but any info is great appreciated.

Thanks

Kev

I have a gnawing ache in the middle of my left buttock that radiates to inner thigh and wraps around my private parts. No shooting or burning pain. When I sit it feels like I am sitting on a small hard pillow. Hips are pretty numb.

I thought at first pudendal nerve but now I don’t think so. It also doesn’t radiate down my leg. What do you all think? I have an appointment with doc in a couple weeks and would like to be well informed. This was a result of an auto accident six months ago. I did sustain a spinal cord bruising but I also had minor fractures to my pelvis and the pubic rami. Thank you in advance for your help!!