Piriformis cramp/spasm & sciatica

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JoDavo66
JoDavo66 Posts: 526 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm not exactly a spring chicken & my fitness isn't great but I am trying.
Had some injuries in the recent past which I've had to improve movement before I can do a lot of other things.
2 years ago had rear end smash in car accident resulting in lower back whiplash- had physio who gave advice for when I started going to gym & been working on these areas.
The only thing left is a pain in the butt!! Had piriformis & glute stretches in my programmes before UK lockdown.
I now have to carry all my stuff from classroom to classroom & this appears to have knock on effect- pain/spasm deep in 1 side of butt & usually spasm traps sciatic nerve causing pins& needles tingles or shooting pain. Still doing the stretching as recommended but this is really annoying now.
Any suggestions????

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  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    Are you resistance training currently or since the accident?
  • greyhoundwalker
    greyhoundwalker Posts: 21 Member
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    I can’t give you any exercise advice as I’m not experienced or qualified. However as someone who has had previous piriformis syndrome which can give warning twinges sometimes, the advice from my physio I can pass on is use your abdominal core strength to brace your lower back when lifting /carrying so your piriformis doesn’t end up taking the whole load, if your load is heavy/bulky invest in one of those fold up wheeled trolley baskets to cart your stuff around.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,210 Member
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    Focus on keeping your abs braced tight when you carry stuff, since your abs support your pelvis. If "braced tight" doesn't make sense, check youtube vids on "abdominal bracing".

    The effects of stretches don't last long, so try doing it hourly for 20+ seconds. Here's a good piriformis stretch that doesn't require getting on the floor - https://youtube.com/watch?v=2qZ517Rw7ME
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    edited September 2020
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    JoDavo66 wrote: »
    I'm not exactly a spring chicken & my fitness isn't great but I am trying.
    Had some injuries in the recent past which I've had to improve movement before I can do a lot of other things.
    2 years ago had rear end smash in car accident resulting in lower back whiplash- had physio who gave advice for when I started going to gym & been working on these areas.
    The only thing left is a pain in the butt!! Had piriformis & glute stretches in my programmes before UK lockdown.
    I now have to carry all my stuff from classroom to classroom & this appears to have knock on effect- pain/spasm deep in 1 side of butt & usually spasm traps sciatic nerve causing pins& needles tingles or shooting pain. Still doing the stretching as recommended but this is really annoying now.
    Any suggestions????

    If it keeps up (and I don't know what the current situation is for healthcare in the UK) -- there's a guy in Belgium -- Deiter Mortier, that is the foremost specialist in Piriformis Release surgery in the world.

    My wife had it very bad years ago and therapy only helped for a few weeks at a time. The only guy in the US that did it wanted 80K and he only had 50% success rate and it wasn't covered by insurance.

    Dr Mortier had 97% success rate and was like $2500 for everything -- treatment, hospital, diagnosis, anaesthesia, etc. He's in Vuerne. Fantastic doc. She was out of pain within a week, permanently.

    There was absolutely no physio that would have helped my wife. On video, he showed us how the Piriformis muscle had grown around the sciatic nerve and was crimping it, like a kinked garden hose. Around 90% of Piriformis can be resolved with PT. We tried for nearly two years with hers to no avail and ended up having to go to Europe. No regrets at all.

  • Silkysausage
    Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
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    Might not be piriformis and glute minimus/medius instead. Look at Trigger Point Therapy for the quadratus lumborum and glute min/med.
  • JoDavo66
    JoDavo66 Posts: 526 Member
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    Thank you all for this.
    @Chieflrg I have built up training since accident- I couldn't even for basic squat when I started! Doing body weight & some resistance machines now.

    @greyhoundwalker thanks for the tip on abs. I'll make a point of that focus whilst lugging my kit around school- I've got a wheeled crate at the moment- school getting laptop/briefcase flight bags for us- on wheels. But these still need lugging up & down stairs.

    @cherimouse thanks also for abs tip. I like the video- a chair version of the exercise-helpful thanks.

    @MikePfirrman I'm hoping this can be resolved with continued PT but good to know that's an option if it doesn't get sorted.

    @Silkysausage I'll check out trigger point therapy now. Thanks

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