RunningAHEAD - Topic: Piriformis HELP!

flatfootruns

posted: 12/24/2007 at 4:39 PM
modified: 12/25/2007 at 12:10 AM

I'm having more then a discomfort with my piriformis (L/S) for a while now, I went to an orthopedic last week hoping to get an MRI to see really whats up, dosen't sound like they're gonna give me the ok...anyone have a problem with this, I've had it before & the stretches worked great, no more?" Thanks, Scott Confused

rroush

posted: 12/25/2007 at 10:10 AM

If it's really your piriformis that's the problem, this is a muscle so not sure what an MRI would show. I didn't think MRI's helped much with muscular problems. I constantly struggle with my piriformis when I increase my mileage. The way I counteract this is two-fold. One is stretching, stretching, stretching. You mentioned the stretches worked in the past. If you are running more, though, continuing to do the stretches on a regular basis will absolutely help (e.g. after each run and more times during the day as it's bothering you). Second is massage. If you can afford to go to a massage therapist who specializes in or has experience with runners, he can work through your piriformis with deep tissue massage in the glutes. I started going to see a therapist a couple of months ago and I go every 2-3 weeks. He spends the entire hour on my legs (IT band) and glutes. It's not a relaxation massage in that it can be painful, but it works!!! If massage is not an option or for the times in between massages, you can get a baseball or softball, sit your glute on it, press your body weight into it and roll gently in small circles on it. This basically massages your piriformis for you. Again, it hurts, but it will help. Once I learned how to work through piriformis problems, it really allowed me to reach all of my running goals! Good luck! Smile

flatfootruns

posted: 12/25/2007 at 10:54 PM

Thanks for letting me know that an MRI won't help, they wanted to give me x-ray's first, I told my ortho. I don't have a bone problem, i have been stretching a lot, and also working it with a tennis ball like you mentioned, I haven't had a massage for it, I'll have to look into that...Thanks a lot for your help...

wilson1660

posted: 12/27/2007 at 8:13 AM

I had issues with this last year. To get rid of this "knot" in my piriformis, I sat and rolled on a tennis ball. Trust me, you will know when you are on it. As the knot got smaller, I went to a baseball. If you can live through the pain and work the knot out, this may be the answer to your problem....it was for me. Good Luck!

fbgrrl

posted: 12/27/2007 at 12:44 PM

Quote from wilson1660 on 12/27/2007 at 8:13 AM:

I had issues with this last year. To get rid of this "knot" in my piriformis, I sat and rolled on a tennis ball. Trust me, you will know when you are on it. As the knot got smaller, I went to a baseball. If you can live through the pain and work the knot out, this may be the answer to your problem....it was for me. Good Luck!

I'd be careful with the baseball, it's just not soft enough. The sciatic nerve passes under the piriformis and, just below the piriformis, is pretty close to the skin. The sciatic nerve is about the size of a number 2 pencil, or larger, and you risk bruising the nerve by crushing it against the underlying bone. A bruised nerve takes weeks to heal and feels like someone has shoved a red hot ice pick into your butt, so I'm told. A good alternative would be to use the tennis ball: get the ball to a knot on the muscle, hold it there and then carefully stretch the muscle. If you can't take laying on the ball, I suggest putting the ball between you and a wall, you have better control of the pressure and depth and it's not as much stress on the lumbar spine. Lots of stretching. I have clients do the 'leg over' stretch and then have them do another stretch where they bring the knee up towards the opposite shoulder. This stretches glute medius and minimus which always seem to be involved when the piriformis gets bad. Keep in mind that the piriformis is a lateral hip rotator - i.e. it rotates the toes outward to make you duck footed. I can spot a tight piriformis just by looking at your feet. You can also get a small stretch during the day by rotating your toes to point inward. Do this when you're sitting at your desk and try not to let your leg rotate out as it allows the piriformis to spend all day in a shortened state and undo all the stretching you've been doing.

Have you got a flag?

rururunner

posted: 12/28/2007 at 9:38 PM

I suffered with piriformis problems for ages and tried numerous tricks to try to fix it: 1. Lots of stretches: http://jaxmed.com/massage/pirformis_stretches.htm 2. Foam rollers (actually felt quite nice and I think good for your IT band if you have issues there) 3. New stability shoes (Saucony Omni Grid) but the thing that worked the best was properly fitted orthotics. I can't say enough about how happy I am now. I was in agony all the time and the stretches just seemed to irritate it more. Since I've had orthotics I have been one happy camper! It took about 3 months for the "butt pain" to subside but it has never returned despite increased mileage. I'm pretty happy with my success story and I hope you can fine what works for you. Good luck!

Suffering Benefiting from mature onset exercise addiction and low aerobic endorphin release threshold. Hoping there is no cure.

flatfootruns

posted: 12/28/2007 at 10:17 PM

I also wear custom orthotics, I'm a severe overpronator...any new ideas let me know...I'm going to try them all...Thx & Happy Running Year "2008" scott

flatfootruns

posted: 1/3/2008 at 9:26 PM
modified: 1/3/2008 at 9:27 PM

I got the ok from my H.I. for an MRI on wednesday (couldn't believe it) and went for it tonight...should find out tomorrow afternoon, whats up... fingers are crossed... scott

Piriformis HELP! (Read 916 times)