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Aerili
climber
Reno, NV
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Jan 27, 2011 - 08:27pm PT
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I had this for years from ballet. Nothing helped as long as I persisted in my activity (stretching only helped the symptoms temporarily...and my piriformis was not tight, anyway.)
Finally I saw a chiro who did ART (Active Release Technique) on my sacro-tuberous ligament. Most amazing treatment ever! I would make a bet that it will be more effective than something like acupuncture if you find a good practitioner.
Your PT may also address some muscle imbalances you have going on. Although I also lifted weights in my ballet days, I feel the muscle corrections did not come until eventually I stopped dancing altogether (due to a hip injury).
Good luck.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Social climber
Retired to Appalachia
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Jan 23, 2012 - 06:34pm PT
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Just stumbled on this thread
I developed piriformis syndrome 20 years ago while running trail ultras. Still have it today. Tried everything, the only that has worked is "acceptance."
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Adamame
climber
Santa Cruz
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Jan 23, 2012 - 06:47pm PT
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I've had it pretty seriously over the last few months. PT and doctors didn't really help. Then I went and saw Elaine Lee at Midline in SC. Being a climber she was able to pinpoint some problem areas that she loosened up through rolfing. This has helped a good amount.
But from what I have been told the biggest contributor to this is stress. Whether it is work related or perosnal, Id find a way to shed it. Don't let the injury be the stress. And if you work at a desk you are pretty much screwed, we aren't made to sit on our ass all day long. But what really cured this problem, going into the woods and hiking, it may be painfull at first but the stress relieving properties of the nature take over at some point and open you up to healing.
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HHL
Trad climber
Stumpcreek, WV
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Jan 23, 2012 - 08:06pm PT
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Buy a foam roller and roll back and forth on your trigger points. Also, try doing the number 4 stretch. Put your left ankle on your right knee, reach between your legs, grab your right knee, pull towards chest while pushing down on left knee with left elbow. Stay active.
Good luck, I have been treating my pain with this technique for years. It never goes away completely, but it is manageable.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Jan 23, 2012 - 08:28pm PT
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hey there zeta... glad to hear the update...
after the two years... mine has been well...
but, if i sit on low stuff, or lift, or sit funny, i will suddenly feels it haunting me...
it goes away, though, within the hour, after walking and stretching it out..
i never had pre-back pain, though many do...
mine was always in the hip, that started from that bad job at work...
folks do not realize, YES:
it builds up, does not happen over night, though it SURE feels like it :O
a pretty fearful thing.. makes you think you will never walk again :O
keep letting it rest before you get back to the really hard stuff...
and keep AN EYE OUT for what triggers it in the future...
so thus, you can avoid such positions, etc...
some folks claim they never really get well, but i think those folks
have not gone through all the 'learning process' to see the how to, as to fixing it early... and the damage may be deeper... from a longer stress time....
edit: wow, siera ledge rat... sorry to hear this...
yes, it must have progressed pretty far, ... you never know, you may still
find something to help... i thought the therapy etc, would never make mine well--but some osteopath friends of mine, a year later think it was, found some more trigger points to help solve it... don't give up...
though i still LIVE with having to take care... :)
keep on getting well! :)
i am happy i can run, dance, and do my garden, clean house, and all kinds of stuff again!
thank the good lord! :)
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nature
climber
Aridzona for now Denver.... here I come...
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Jan 23, 2012 - 08:56pm PT
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If I did I'd be SHOT at dawn...
fux that locker, we wouldn't wait!
give acupuncture a try
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brat
climber
El Portal
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Jan 23, 2012 - 08:57pm PT
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I, too, deal with piriformis and radiating sciatic pain.
As far as I can tell, the trigger is lots of activity followed by lots of sitting -- big trip and then a long drive home.
I've done the massage therapy and the rolfing and the PT... and through all of it, the thing that helped most was getting a cushion thing for my car seat. Now that I'm back in school, I move it from the car to the desk chair.
Just something to consider, especially if you spend a lot of time in a bucket seat.
The foam roller was also the best $12 I've ever spent.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Jan 23, 2012 - 09:02pm PT
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hi zeta,
i used to have piriformis problems at least once a year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWfnAUsYUTI
i now use a lax ball as part of a daily regimen, and it's done away with it entirely, so long as i stay on top of it. if yr piriformis is already ganked. i would second a goody body worker until it gets to a point where you can do more on yr own. (when mine was bad, i couldnt even put my shoes on by myself.) i find a quick routine with a swiss ball (for iliapsoas) and then using the lax ball on the it, pf, and long back muscles makes a huge difference-- better than all the years i did of chiro, pt, etc.
mike papciak is a berkeley bodyworker who is also a good climber.
http://mikepapciak.com/
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Johnny K.
climber
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Jan 23, 2012 - 09:32pm PT
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Inversion therapy,try it,you have nothing to lose but pain.
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Riley
Trad climber
Canada
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Jan 23, 2012 - 11:20pm PT
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This stretch has helped me immensely. Stemming used to be out of the question, to say the least.
Note however, that it is very deep and painful!
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zeta
Trad climber
Portland, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 24, 2012 - 02:11am PT
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yep, this thread still goes on, b/c I still have piriformis!
In the last year, I've been to 3 different PTs, done lots of different stretches, massages, resting/taking it easy...all to various degrees of success. The foam roller--for all the rave reviews--never quite got to the spot. But I have balls of various sizes that I roll on which sort of help.
the things that have helped the most? core strengthening exercises, buying a cheap inflatable pillow for my computer chair and car seat, moving around a lot more, and learning type on my laptop standing up at a cafe...
it still sucks though. It got a lot worse in the past month b/c I tore my ACL in Dec. and haven't been able to do any of the piriformis stretches, b/c of the swollen knee post-surgery. I guess I was walking in such a way to compensate for the knee and ended up messing up the piriformis instead!
complaining about my ass makes me feel suddenly old! anyways, I think Sierra Lodge Rat is right, I think it's just about "acceptance"
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Jan 24, 2012 - 02:36am PT
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Piriformis syndrome is a rather frivolous concept with no evidence of validity.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Jan 24, 2012 - 04:08am PT
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Zeta...I have that sh#t..had this olympic trainer stretch me back and forth like a rag doll and it got rid of it ...But what really has helped is getting 3 inches of padding on my chair from where i post on supertopo...Don't sit down...keep running in circles and wave your arms...Getting rid of coffee from the diet helps also... but i'm a weak cuss and can't part with the devils brew...Stretch your hip-flexors...quads...RJ
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Jan 24, 2012 - 04:11am PT
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PS...and the blue butt plug..! RJ
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Social climber
Retired to Appalachia
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Jan 24, 2012 - 05:39am PT
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Piriformis syndrome is a rather frivolous concept with no evidence of validity.
Ignorantia beata est.
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gunsmoke
Mountain climber
Clackamas, Oregon
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Jan 24, 2012 - 09:26am PT
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everyone's body is different and responds in different ways
I had some really bad trouble with the piriformis a number of years ago. Finally I found a doc who thought that the trouble was actually with the SI joint, which is an insertion point for the muscle. They did a really painful cortisone injection into the joint. Problem solved. I've had some minor flare-ups since, but that one injection took me from non-functional to functional.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Jan 26, 2012 - 03:45pm PT
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You've got to realize why the piriformis muscle is contracting and cramping in the first place: Lack of oxygen. Big question: Why? Obviously the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for sending oxygen to the nerves, muscles, and tendons, is reducing the oxygen level in the piriformis for some unknown reason, like maybe self-imposed emotional stress from within or environmentally imposed emotional stress from without? No one really knows why steroid injections work, but they do sometimes. Quite possibly a placebo reaction. That's why you can never predict their effectiveness or why the pain comes back. No doubt the piriformis muscle is contracting and putting pressure on the sciatic nerve, but no one really knows why except that it hurts. My guess would be that the sciatic nerve is also involved in the oxygen debt syndrome and that's really why it really hurts a lot.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Aug 20, 2014 - 08:11am PT
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I had piriformis syndrome several years back (right leg). I was seeing a friend who is a neuromuscular therapist, he was working on a shoulder injury of mine (skiing in Italian Alps about two years before, pins and needles, numbness in lower left arm/hand).
Because Dene (a Kiwi living in Ireland, where his folks are from) did such a good job of ridding me of the pain, numbness etc (primarily using dry needling and deep tissue massage and some stretching), I asked him to tackle my piriformis problem.
Several sessions of release massage (and some dry needling) and voilą, no problems for about five years now.
For my sciatica (left leg, numbness/pins/needles down to the toes), I found a bloke that specialises in several therapies and ran a clinic with his mom.
He used Amatsu to both diagnose (pinched sciatic nerve fifth lumbar) and treat me. After five sessions, again, voilą. Haven't had trouble for over four years. He also gave me some stretching exercises.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Aug 20, 2014 - 12:28pm PT
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The placebo response is very powerful no matter what elicits it: dry needling (ouch!), acupressure, stretching, massage etc. etc. Sometimes surgery does it too. Whatever works for you!
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Aug 20, 2014 - 04:00pm PT
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Hey Bruce, I didn't find dry needling to be painful. Helpful for sure.
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