The Piriformis Muscle

Do you have pain in your buttock? Low Back Pain? Your Piriformis muscle may be the culprit.

Your Piriformis muscle is a small, deep, buttock muscle. Many of us have a tight piriformis muscle which can cause pain issues in your gluteal/buttock region as it passes right over your sciatic nerve. When your piriformis becomes tight it can compress your sciatic nerve and start creating all kinds of issues. Many of us sit at computer desks for many hours on most days. This essentially means that you sit on your sciatic nerve, gluteal muscles and piriformis muscle every day.  If your nerve is calm and not irritated, that feels ok but if it is stirred up from a tight piriformis muscle your gluteal and buttock region can become extremely painful.

 Symptoms of piriformis muscle syndrome

If your piriformis is irritated you may feel pain in your buttock region, pain down your leg, numbness and tingling traveling into your leg and foot, pain on sitting, standing and squatting down.

    
As physiotherapists, it is our job to determine if your sciatic nerve pain is originating from your piriformis muscle or from your spine. If your piriformis muscle is the culprit, you will feel like your pain originates in your buttock regions, not your spine. Another distinction between the two origins of your pain is that with a tight piriformis muscle you usually won’t have muscle weakness in the affected lower limb side whereas you if your pain originates from your spine you may get symptoms down the affected limb side.

Some men have had a sciatic nerve irritation caused or aggravated by sitting on their wallet in their back pocket. “Note to self – Never sit on my wallet”Piriformis muscle pain doesn’t have to be isolated to the muscle itself.  You can have SIJ (sacroiliac joint) pain and wider spread gluteal muscle pain too.

Piriformis Muscle Treatment

At City Physiotherapy your physiotherapist will first identify the cause of your pain and symptoms. This may include a biomechanical assessment of certain movements involving your lower limbs and pelvis. We will then target hands-on treatment to release your tight Piriformis muscle. We will also assess and treat any tightness or symptoms around your other gluteal muscles and lower back if they are contributing to your pain issues.

Our treatment will most likely include, muscle stretching, trigger point release, dry needling, home exercises to lengthen your tight muscles and strengthening exercises to improve strength in any weak or underactive muscles around this region. Taping may also be of short term benefit to alleviate your pain.

You may have to avoid activities that aggravate your pain such as minimising sitting for prolonged periods of time and breaking up your day with various stretches.

Our physiotherapists have advanced dry needling expertise to target your deep piriformis muscle trigger points.

Let us help you get over your piriformis, gluteal or sciatic nerve pain and get on with your life. Call City Physiotherapy today and make an appointment or book online.

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