Last Updated on April 18, 2021 by pirie
Piriformis Syndrome Treatment: Sciatic Nerve Piriformis Syndrome (running injuries)
Jun 2, 2014
The piriformis muscle creates a real pain in the butt for many people. Repetitive actions could be the cause of all your pain.
Read on to learn what a piriformis muscle is, why repetitive actions can create pain, and how to resolve these actions using natural means.
What Is a Piriformis?
The piriformis is one of the six deep external rotator muscles in the buttocks area. The sciatic nerve comes down from the spine, and in a few rare cases, the muscle has a double belly, and the sciatic nerve goes through the middle of the heads.
This syndrome creates immense pain in the individual and may require extensive measures to relieve.
Many others get sporadic pain in the butt or the hip area as they age. This pain may seem to go away at first but keeps coming back and becoming harder to relieve with each incident.
We start as a baby with 100 percent flexibility, and every fall or bump accrues in our muscles over the years. The problem will never really goes away until it’s massaged out. Instead, it just builds up until the muscle is sitting at 90-100 percent contraction and is locked on that nerve.
What is Creating This Pain?
Most likely, a repetitive action such as how you climb stairs or if you do a lot of sitting will create tightness in the muscle. In turn, it tightens around the sciatic nerve choking it, sending pain, or burning down the leg.
Another possibility is trauma created from falling on your butt and damaging the muscles causing them to tighten.
How to Get Rid of the Pain of Piriformis syndrome?
The first thing to try is heat and cold. If an injury has occurred within 48 hours, try the cold first. A bag of frozen peas works great and conforms really well to an injury. If it’s an older injury, apply heat to try to relieve the death grip that the piriformis has on the nerve.
It would help if you started getting relief once the muscle relaxes and starts getting blood flow into it. The sciatic nerve pain should start to lessen at this point also.
Now is a good time to get out a tennis ball, get up against a solid wall, and roll the ball around on the butt muscles until you find the hot spots.
Press into the ball/wall for 20-25 seconds per spot, increasing pressure by bending forward. Move the ball from the hip across the butt hitting all the sore, hot spots going in toward the sacrum.
You can also try this on the floor, but many people have difficulty getting up after. Next, re-apply the heat or cold and rub in some liniment and let it soak into the muscle. If the muscle still does not respond, get in to see a deep tissue neuromuscular massage therapist for a good massage. If that does not work, head to the doctor.
Piriformis syndrome Figuring out the Cause and Adjustments.
By figuring out what action is creating the problem, you can stop aggravating the muscle and start healing.
Adjusting your feet when walking, sitting, and running to point in a 12 o’clock position will help a lot. Apply heat to the butt because a healthy muscle does not hurt, so moving all the lactic acids out of the muscle allows fresh blood to get in. Apply pressure with a tennis ball until the muscle loosens up and relaxes, allowing more blood flow to the area.
Reapply heat or cold and do a few squats to stretch it out. Apply some liniment to the heated, stretched muscle and relax. Taking these steps can save you significant pain and sleepless nights.
The piriformis muscle assists in abducting and laterally rotating your thigh, so watch how you walk and sit, especially in the car. How you position your feet on the gas and brake pedals can truly make a world of difference, especially on a long road trip.
Make sure to keep your feet pointing straight in the 12 o’clock position when walking, sitting, or running. The more your toes tend to point toward the 10 and 2 o’clock positions, the greater your chances of getting piriformis problems.
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