Piriformis Syndrome Symptoms, Exercises, Treatment, Causes
I self-diagnosed myself with Piriformis Syndrome because it checked off every box as far as symptoms go. I believe it was a leg day gone bad that caused this. Piriformis Syndrome is basically the inflamed Piriformis muscle in your buttocks rubbing against the sciatic nerve, and it was the most painful thing I’ve ever had. I will tell you the things I tried to treat this, what worked and what I think has worked for me.
The first symptoms for me were pain in the buttocks that ran down my leg. I also noticed I was walking with a bit of a limp and it felt a little better when I walked with my foot pointing outward on the affected leg, which is another symptom. That was box number 2 that was checked off. Some of the causes include prolonged sitting on hard surfaces. I work from home sitting for long periods of time, and I had an old chair that lost it’s padding. So that fit as well.
Some treatment includes avoiding such things as running, bicycling, rowing, heavy lifting, etc. I was working out 3 times a week and I think the heavy lifting of weights is what caused it.
Some products that were recommended to help that I bought:
Paid Meds – tried every OTC medicine
Stepper – Best Choice Products 30” Fitness Aerobic Step, I bought that because when I was doing flat bench, my feet weren’t touching the ground all the way, which I believe caused undo strain on my glutes
Foam Roller – I bought the RumbleRoller – Textured Muscle Foam Roller Manipulates Soft Tissue Like A Massage Therapist
Tens Unit – TENS 7000 2nd Edition Digital TENS Unit with accessories
Heating Pad – used this every night, Sunbeam King-Size MicroPlush/XPressHeat Electric Heating Pad
Massager – Pure-Wave CM7 Cordless Massager to massage the glutes
New Chair – I first tried a cushion, the ComfiLife Premium Comfort Seat Cushion but eventually just bought a new chair the La Z Boy Edmonton Bonded Leather Office Chair, Coffee Brown.
Tried all of that, I’m sure it all helped in some way. Then I read an article on anti-inflammatory medicine and tried the one that was recommended, Inflammatone by Designs for Health. After a week or so, I noticed a difference and I feel this was something that was really helping me.
I’m feeling a lot better now, pretty much back to normal and I do 2 main things:
Take 2 Inflammatones a day
4 times a day, I do about 5 minutes of stretching each session. Mainly doing the Piriformis stretch shown in this video.
Top 3 Self-Treatments for Piriformis Syndrome: A Type of Sciatica