Pirifomis syndrome

[Anonymous]

Dry needling.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the suggestions for using a lacrosse ball when it's flaring up, but I also use the Hip Hook to help release my overall hips which helps as well.

[Anonymous]

I had a flare up of this out of nowhere. Saw a sports medicine orthopedist who gave me steroids and muscle relaxants that took care of the immediate issue. I added regular strengthening and stretching exercise to hopefully keep it from happening again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Foam roller!

Yes this! The only thing that worked to alleviate pain and prevent it from returning - I would literally roll my butt cheek over the foam roller, targeting the most painful area on the top part of my leg. You can get one do the shorter thicker rollers on Amazon, and it totally saved me!

[Anonymous]

I assume you’ve been doing these? Let your body relax into then and hold gently for a long time. The second one helped me the most.


Once it becomes aggravated and inflamed you should rest it. Advil can help reduce the inflammation.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried a standing figure 4 stretch, using bed or plyo box? A height that puts your bent leg even with your waist.

This allows you to bend your plant leg do drive bent leg up and/or lean into it for a deep stretch.

Another way to get a deeper stretch is to set up on steps. Sit two or three steps above step whree your feet are planted. Cross the one leg over the the other knee and slowly lower your but onto the next step below. You can hold there for 30 sec to a minute or go back and forth between those two steps for 5 or 10 seconds each.

The thing that may help most though is work stretching the other muscles nearby glutes, hamstrings, obliques. I would do a stretching circuit for two or three rounds where each round incorporates a stretch or two for each of those muscles.

[Anonymous]

See a PT if you can. if not, find a good therapeutic massage place and schedule a sports massage but call to. make sure the therapist and you are ok with butt work. Basically they'll put their fist or elbow in your butt cheek and it will hurt like heck. Only after a pro loosens it a bit can you do your own thing with stretching and a tennis ball. It won't go away on it's own. Good luck! (got mine after a birth injury)

[Anonymous]

I’m in PT for this also. My therapist thinks it’s related to a back twist caused by crossing my legs when I sit, which I’ve done for 45 years. The twist pinched a nerve, which weakened the glut muscles on that side over time and referred pain to the piriformis. Honestly, it sounds so complicated I’m not sure I buy it but I’m desperate so giving this a try. Lacrosse ball, foam roller, glut and hip strengthening, deep back massage, and never ever crossing my legs. That’s the hardest part. But so far so good!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m in PT for this also. My therapist thinks it’s related to a back twist caused by crossing my legs when I sit, which I’ve done for 45 years. The twist pinched a nerve, which weakened the glut muscles on that side over time and referred pain to the piriformis. Honestly, it sounds so complicated I’m not sure I buy it but I’m desperate so giving this a try. Lacrosse ball, foam roller, glut and hip strengthening, deep back massage, and never ever crossing my legs. That’s the hardest part. But so far so good!

OP here. I've been wracking my brain as to what would have caused this...but I think it could definitely be the same cause as yours. This is definitely the side I cross my leg on most, and I'm wondering if it didn't come about because I started going back into the office full time this summer. After 3 years of working from home in a much more informal setting, maybe sitting with my leg crossed caused this.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions re: stretching. The figure 4 on my back seems to be helping - I'm trying to do it for 3 1 minute sessions each morning and night. Fingers crossed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the suggestions for using a lacrosse ball when it's flaring up, but I also use the Hip Hook to help release my overall hips which helps as well.

+1
Tennis ball, foam roller, one of those crooked canes to reach the area - you need to do a fascia release. Find the tenderest spot and press as you can tolerate, then you can gently work it. If you’re using a foam roller, you kind of roll up and down on it on a bed or carpet.

Start with a soft foam roller; I tried it on a hard one and while it worked, the agony of the release was… well, agony.

[Anonymous]

oh gosh I had this after I ran a 10k and it was awful. I'm sorry OP. My pain went straight through the butt cheek down the back of my leg. I could not get in and out of a chair without excruciating pain and also couldn't get out of bed without rolling and then sitting up like I used to when I was pregnant. I went to a ortho who insisted it was sacroiliac and I had an MRI to prove him wrong, which it did. The only thing that really helped me was time. I did massages, rolling with the lacrosse ball, and the exercises and everything I could think of, but really it just took time to heal and eventually the muscle relaxed. Stretching helped the most and I think that aided the healing the most. I still have residual pain from time to time and will never fully be rid of it but at least I have my mobility fully back.

[Anonymous]

The reason why it takes so long to resolve is because of the inflammation that is pinching the nerve (if I understand my dr correctly). So rest and anti-inflammatories help in addition to the stretches.

[Anonymous]

I get a monthly massage and she spends a lot of time on my piriformis. A monthly massage is critical to me being pain free.

[Anonymous]

I sometime get outer hip/thigh pain during sex - is that the piriformis?

[Anonymous]

Any recommendations for PTs or massage therapists in MoCo that are really knowledgeable about this?