Hi all, I’ve recently been suffering with PS (tight piriformis muscle in right buttock pressing on sciatic nerve) the pain has been unbearable. Shooting pains down the leg and like a nagging toothache at night. Physio and exercises are slowly working but I haven’t been able to run for over two weeks now, this started after being bed bound for nearly 3 days due to this horrid flu bug that’s been doing the rounds! Proper fed up now 😩 just wondering if anyone else has suffered with PS and if so do you have any good tips to help ease it/avoid it in future. Any help would be gratefully received!
Thanks
Written by
Foxes1961
Graduate10
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Trapped sciatic nerve....( affected the PS muscle) ... but unlike you,, no bed rest...no sleep ( agony) and no sitting... the only comfy position was standing or walking !
NHS exercises are good... my Sports physio backed up those exercises and a link I got from another really experienced runner on here which made a huge difference to me!
Thanks for your reply Oldfloss and I am sorry to hear that you have suffered so much from this awful condition. Thank you for the links for the exercises too, there are some slightly different ones to the ones I have been given so I'll give those a go. I too spent a sleepless night where I couldn't sit, lie or walk without pain! I spent the whole night pacing the lounge floor and doing yoga stretches in an attempt to get some relief! Thankfully if I do the stretches before bed I can usually get a good few hours in before I wake and have to change position! I am going to attempt a gentle jog in the morning and see how that goes ...... wish me luck!
We had a physio come and talk to us at work today. Was meant to be about back pain but side tracked on to runners including piriformis syndrome. All the usual talk about what a nightmare runners are because they won't rest up. She said she often tells people they can run but in water. I am not at all suggesting you just do this, but you could ask your physio what they think. She also talked about core/strength work which is probably what you are working on.
Hi, thanks for that. Yes I have bee given core/strength exercises to do. I am going to go swimming tomorrow so I will give the jogging in water a go, I did try this when the shooting pains first started weeks ago but that was before the REAL pain set in! Things are easing now so a little 'aqua jogging' may just help.
I've had this and still am prone so I stretch every day (seated figure of four), sit on a golf ball like JoBell21 and do this stretch. My pilates instructor give it to me and it's brilliant. It's specially effective when you do it just before going to bed.
Ive struggled with it but with regular stretches and strengthening , it has gone away. Took a couple of months though. It kept me awake at night and sitting was the worst. Massages helped too. Hang in there. It geta better. Rest didn't fix it though. Activity made it feel better
Thanks for that. I did try a couple of sports massages at the beginning but it didn't help very much but maybe now I am not in so much pain it would be worth trying again. It's a horrible condition isn't it, I have never known pain like it, I find sitting the worst too. Flu bug hasn't helped things either as I've had no energy to do anything but slowly getting better so can try some exercise now and see if that helps.
I'm currently on the IC with this too, although being completely uncouth, I call it arsecheekitis Old Floss's exercises are great. Also if you can find Sandyscroll's recent post on it too, there are some great answers and help there too.
Mine's a dull ache, too, a niggly pain that wakes me up at night but it's not agony thank goodness. I can do other stuff at the gym but it starts to tighten when I run any more than 10 mins and I haven't run for 4 weeks, no sign of it abating either, at the mo.
Reading others views on it, it seems to be a combination of stretches, rest and patience that 'cure' it. That's easy for me to say though, when it's not causing me total agony. If I find out anything else to speed the healing process, I'll be sure to let you know, but I've found some good yoga stretches by just googling 'piriformis yoga stretches', the one in the picture below, gives a really good stretch, I can feel the relief when I do it:
I love that term for this horrible affliction! Thanks for your reply, really helpful. I tried a slow run/walk Saturday morning which was ok although hard work! Felt ok at the time but the next day I had a really tight & sore right calf which is now painful to walk on!!! I’m fed up of being on the IC now, the sun is shining & I want to be out there. Oh well maybe I’ll try a swim instead. Hope you’re back running again soon too.
Lie on your tummy and ask a close relative or friend to put their elbow in the middle of your backside/buttock and rotate it or move like a lever . It will hurt but it will be good pain . Xx
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Old Floss's exercises are great. Also if you can find Sandyscroll's recent post on it too, there are some great answers and help there too.
My Asics plan - how slow can you go?
Dynamic Core Exercise 1 - Feel free to Join
Running 10k and upwards - what don't I know? 
Help with Apps
🍂🏃♀️🍂 October Quest week 4 : Don’t FALL at the final hurdle! 🍂🏃♀️🍂
