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Training with Piriformis/Sciatica
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 2010-07-26 7:36 PM |
Veteran  407 |  Subject: Training with Piriformis/SciaticaI have been fighting with piriformis/sciatica for over a year. I do all the rolling, lacrosse ball, icing, A.R.T., stretching and yet the ugly beast continues to haunt me. Any other suggestions to help me get to my Sprint the end of August? I can swim and bike without much pain but the running is at about a level 3 on the pain scale. I am only running twice a week just to keep my "#ss" pain within a doable range. I have a feeling the compression from running is the culprit and I plan on seeing a sports orthopedist once my Sprint is completed. Thanks for any suggestions. PS I posted here instead of the medical section because I think more people read this board.  |
| 2010-07-26 7:53 PM in reply to: #3006089 |
Master 1367   Dirt Road | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica |
| 2010-07-26 8:13 PM in reply to: #3006089 |
Extreme Veteran 611 Casa Grande, Az. | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica Chiropractor and rest is the only thing that could ever keep me from getting the chainsaw out and cutting my leg and butt cheek off! |
| 2010-07-26 8:16 PM in reply to: #3006089 |
Extreme Veteran 542 Pauls Valley, OK | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica Have you seen a chiropractor yet? I thought I was having ITB and sciata problems. He did a bunch of tests and determined it wasn't a spinal problem at all. I was having piriformis problems. He said when it becomes inflamed it can rub on the sciata causing back pain like symptoms. The piriformis was also the cause of the ITB pain/hip bursitis. My pain too was manifesting during the run. I took a few weeks off of running. I tried all the common treatments: ice, foam roller, stretching, physical therapy, and ultrasound therapy. Once I began to run again, the pain was back immediately. My chiro then recommended getting a bike fitting. He gave me a wider saddle, moved my seat down and back. Since my fitting, I haven't had one twinge of pain, and training has proceeded at full volume. From personal experience I highly recommend a good bike fitting. |
| 2010-07-26 9:26 PM in reply to: #3006089 |
Member 30 Tulsa, OK | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica Stretching etc all seemed to help me. I have also added a bunch of strength training to my hip abductors and adductors, as well as glutes to help any imbalances, which is why your piriformis is getting overused in the first place. |
| 2010-07-26 9:35 PM in reply to: #3006089 |
Veteran 252 | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica I had piriformis/sciatica after a full mary & ended up in PT for over a month. I was in pain while driving. I then scheduled a series of deep tissue massages (specifically on that side) & acupuncture & that helped me so much! Good Luck...BTW, I recovered completely & then ran a 1/2 mary 4 months later! |
| 2010-07-27 12:59 AM in reply to: #3006089 |
Champion 5781 Northridge, California | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica Rehabbing first a hip injury then had me on the shelf for about 10 weeks, then a pretty bad bout of sciatica that I finally shook after about 8 weeks, I learned that it is important to try to identify what's really going on. Piriformis injury is a pretty trendy self-diagnosis, but when I went to a high-end general musculoskeletal/sports orthopedist, he identified my injury as hip bursitis that was triggering deep spasming in the glute, not the piriformis. And the bursitis was from a gait imbalance. Rest, stretching and ultimately a course of oral steroids knocked out the bursitis and the PITA went away. |
| 2010-07-27 9:31 AM in reply to: #3006489 |
Veteran 407 | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica tcovert - 2010-07-27 1:59 AM Rehabbing first a hip injury then had me on the shelf for about 10 weeks, then a pretty bad bout of sciatica that I finally shook after about 8 weeks, I learned that it is important to try to identify what's really going on. Piriformis injury is a pretty trendy self-diagnosis, but when I went to a high-end general musculoskeletal/sports orthopedist, he identified my injury as hip bursitis that was triggering deep spasming in the glute, not the piriformis. And the bursitis was from a gait imbalance. Rest, stretching and ultimately a course of oral steroids knocked out the bursitis and the PITA went away. I have to agree with you, it is a mystery. I first went to a chiropractor who specialized in A.R.T., he was sure it was priformis syndrome. That helped but after I started back running I had the same issues. I stopped running from January - March, while seeing a P.T. who thought it was caused by a possible bulging disc. I started running again in April and felt pretty good. I still continue to do the exercises he showed me. Once I started training, swim 3 x wk, bike 3x wk and run 2x wk it started to kick in again. Now my chiropractor is doing A.R.T. and recommending I see a sports doc to get some pictures of what is going on. The chiropractor is not convinced it is piriformis/sciatica but leaning towards something in the lower back, agreeing with the P.T. possible disc related. As he said and as you have stated it is very complicated and hard to pinpoint. So my question to you is did you continue to train through your sciatica? And when you say "rest" how long are you talking about? I only hurt when I run and sit for long periods of time. Which if you knew me, I really don't sit much. Ha Ha. I hope to stay where I am pain wise and see the sports doc after the 21st of August. Thank you for everyone's input. Looking for that "golden ring" and not wanting it to be "stop running." PS This is an important sprint to me, I have been training my husband, this will be his first, and my son and daughter-in-law are doing the sprint also. I don't want to be left out.  |
| 2010-07-27 10:54 AM in reply to: #3006089 |
Pro 3804 Seacoast, NH! | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica I've got piriformis sydrome, it's a royal biotch, but I've tamed it for the most part. Can you hook me up with some specific symptoms? I get that it hurts, but where in your butt, is it sharp, dull, does it hurt when you use the foam roller, are you muscles tight, have you had deep tissue massage, does it shoot down the inside or outside/front/back of your leg(s), does it hurt after you are done working out? You say that you can swim and bike without much pain...but biking will exacerbate this issue. How do you feel when driving your car?? Are your knees straight/bent? Do you walk with your toes pointed out...duck footed? If you haven't had any pictures taken and it has progressed this long without improvement, what makes you think you should press on and not rule out the lower back issue? I can recommend several things, but need some info.  |
| 2010-07-27 10:54 AM in reply to: #3006089 |
Pro 3804 Seacoast, NH! | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica I've got piriformis sydrome, it's a royal biotch, but I've tamed it for the most part. Can you hook me up with some specific symptoms? I get that it hurts, but where in your butt, is it sharp, dull, does it hurt when you use the foam roller, are you muscles tight, have you had deep tissue massage, does it shoot down the inside or outside/front/back of your leg(s), does it hurt after you are done working out? You say that you can swim and bike without much pain...but biking will exacerbate this issue. How do you feel when driving your car?? Are your knees straight/bent? Do you walk with your toes pointed out...duck footed? If you haven't had any pictures taken and it has progressed this long without improvement, what makes you think you should press on and not rule out the lower back issue? I can recommend several things, but need some info. |
| 2010-07-27 11:41 AM in reply to: #3007265 |
Veteran 252 | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica jgerbodegrant - 2010-07-27 10:54 AM I've got piriformis sydrome, it's a royal biotch, but I've tamed it for the most part. Can you hook me up with some specific symptoms? I get that it hurts, but where in your butt, is it sharp, dull, does it hurt when you use the foam roller, are you muscles tight, have you had deep tissue massage, does it shoot down the inside or outside/front/back of your leg(s), does it hurt after you are done working out? You say that you can swim and bike without much pain...but biking will exacerbate this issue. How do you feel when driving your car?? Are your knees straight/bent? Do you walk with your toes pointed out...duck footed? If you haven't had any pictures taken and it has progressed this long without improvement, what makes you think you should press on and not rule out the lower back issue? I can recommend several things, but need some info. My right leg would bother me while driving & actually hurt. The PT guy that worked with me also told me it might be a disc problem..also said it could be biomechanical. Relief for me was deep tissue massages & taking a break from running hard. are you a doc? |
| 2010-07-27 11:54 AM in reply to: #3007265 |
Veteran 407 | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica jgerbodegrant - 2010-07-27 11:54 AM I've got piriformis sydrome, it's a royal biotch, but I've tamed it for the most part. Can you hook me up with some specific symptoms? I get that it hurts, but where in your butt, is it sharp, dull, does it hurt when you use the foam roller, are you muscles tight, have you had deep tissue massage, does it shoot down the inside or outside/front/back of your leg(s), does it hurt after you are done working out? You say that you can swim and bike without much pain...but biking will exacerbate this issue. How do you feel when driving your car?? Are your knees straight/bent? Do you walk with your toes pointed out...duck footed? If you haven't had any pictures taken and it has progressed this long without improvement, what makes you think you should press on and not rule out the lower back issue? I can recommend several things, but need some info. Yes, I can swim and bike without pain. Hurts real bad with foam roller and I have been told to be careful with the roller especially if my sciatica is inflamed, it will just aggravate it more. The pain is deep in the butt, closer to the lower butt area. Yes I have had deep tissue massage OUCH!! But feels good after. The pain will shoot down the outside of the leg and down to the knee area and sometimes along the outside of my foot. It hurts the most during the run. Afterwards, I ice and can manage the pain. Not always but sometimes it bothers me in the car, not to drive, but just sitting. My knees are straight and I do not walk like a duck, walk straight. I do plan on having some pictures taken but figured I would wait until after my sprint, I will then be more willing to stop running if they tell me to stop for awhile. Just don't want to give in this close to my date. So I am all ears (eyes) what do you suggest? How did you tame it? I did take off running for 3 months, and that tamed it, only to reappear once the running started. |
| 2010-07-27 11:55 AM in reply to: #3007455 |
Pro 3804 Seacoast, NH! | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica 3leftys - 2010-07-27 12:41 PM are you a doc? Absolutely not. I just have a lot of experience with piriformis syndrome and happen to know how to fix the issues that materialize through certain symptoms. I've had this issue for a year and a half. It's reocurring and needs to be kept up with specific maintainance for each symptom. Hard to explain. I only know about this one issue....so if it's disc related, you're on your own. |
| 2010-07-27 12:25 PM in reply to: #3007514 |
Pro 3804 Seacoast, NH! | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica wildred - 2010-07-27 12:54 PM Yes, I can swim and bike without pain. Hurts real bad with foam roller and I have been told to be careful with the roller especially if my sciatica is inflamed, it will just aggravate it more. The pain is deep in the butt, closer to the lower butt area. Yes I have had deep tissue massage OUCH!! But feels good after. The pain will shoot down the outside of the leg and down to the knee area and sometimes along the outside of my foot. It hurts the most during the run. Afterwards, I ice and can manage the pain. Not always but sometimes it bothers me in the car, not to drive, but just sitting. My knees are straight and I do not walk like a duck, walk straight. I do plan on having some pictures taken but figured I would wait until after my sprint, I will then be more willing to stop running if they tell me to stop for awhile. Just don't want to give in this close to my date. So I am all ears (eyes) what do you suggest? How did you tame it? I did take off running for 3 months, and that tamed it, only to reappear once the running started. Okay....so far, doesn't sound like piriformis syndrome. First off, the pain is in your lower butt. It is possible to have that happen, but the majority of the pain would be in your middle to upper butt, from your hip socket diagonally to the lower two bones in your back...sort of like a triangle. So my advice is sort of limited.....but may help. When you run, you need to so some kind of warm-up. I swing my leg forward and backward, side to side while holding onto my deck railing. Then I do some high knees and butt kicks. Then go for the run. Before you go get this really checked out, this is no time for speed work or intervals, so you gotta just go easy. If you decide that you're going to go hard one day because you "feel good and wanted to see what you could do" expect to pay for it. Trust me on that one. During the EASY run, stop at every mile and do those again. Stretch your quads and hamstrings and piriformis. Every mile. If you start your run and the pain is there immediately, you need to do a run/walk combination. Suck it up and deal, because for me, this is the only way I could make it work. After your EASY run, stretch everything, holding each for at least 30 seconds. I follow stretching with the "stick" also. If you don't have a stick you can use a rolling pin. I probably do it for five minutes or so. Your stretching of legs and "stick work" should take at least 20 minutes. Ice immediately after. You probably need to stretch before you go to bed and when you wake up also. Chances are you are too tight. If you sit in your chair and put one ankle on top of the other knee, keep your back straight and lean forward. If this is tight, you have to do this stretch a lot. Like as often as possible. Again....these methods have worked for me, I'm not a doctor, but I'm convinced that muscle issues like this can be cured with proper training and attention. Good luck...I hope this helps and please go get some pictures taken. You should just do it now, because you can always say screw it, I'm going to train anyway, but if there's really a problem, you need to know now. |
| 2010-07-27 2:08 PM in reply to: #3006973 |
Champion 5781 Northridge, California | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica wildred - 2010-07-27 7:31 AM my question to you is did you continue to train through your sciatica? And when you say "rest" how long are you talking about? I only hurt when I run and sit for long periods of time. Which if you knew me, I really don't sit much. Ha Ha. I did actually train through the sciatica, after initially backing off a lot...took it fairly easy on the running the first week or so when it was particularly painful...more biking, as I recall. After that I did a bit more running, leading up to a marathon (3:50) five weeks after the injury. The thing I had to really limit throughout was kicking on the swim...that really bothered the sciatica for some reason. |
| 2010-07-27 2:33 PM in reply to: #3006089 |
Extreme Veteran 439 | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica I also have it, been a bother for 3 weeks now i took a week off everything and it came back but i am managing it i can run but not fast no pain when i swim or strength but a wee bit when i run, i am doing all the stretches and flossing and massage it is getting better, but, oh how i look forward to the day when it is gone, the bike for some reason makes it worse for me. |
| 2010-07-27 6:30 PM in reply to: #3006089 |
Veteran 407 | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica Thanks for all the input. I am going to continue training, take it easy on the running, like I said I am only running 2 x a week, just enough to get me across the finish line. I am glad the run is only a 5k, most likely I would not be able to do much more than that. I too look forward to the day it is gone and I can get on with running pain free! |
| 2010-07-28 6:38 PM in reply to: #3006089 |
| 7 | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica Have you had a professional bike fit? It made all of the difference for me when I was having pirformis/sciatica issues. I wouldn't say that the sciatica disappeared overnight, but the bike fit coupled with the icing, the rolling, the flossing, etc. really made a huge difference for me. Good luck! |
| 2010-07-29 6:16 AM in reply to: #3006089 |
Regular 82 Northport, NY | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica I agree with the bike fit advice? Do you ride an aero bike? While training for Ironman Lake Placid in 2007 I bought my first tri bike and immediately upped my mileage to 50-70 mile rides. The closed position of my hips (without letting my body properly adapt) caused my piriformis to tighten up. Interestingly enough, the pain did not appear when I road, but rather manifested itself when I ran - mostly pulled my hips out of alignment. So even though the pain appears when you run, do not rule out the bike as a culprit. Good luck. |
| 2010-07-29 7:23 AM in reply to: #3006089 |
Veteran 320 Lowestoft, England | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica I developed a similar problem last September. It was probably June this year before I was pain/discomfort free. I still feel it sometimes after/during long runs but can manage it. I backed off running and re-built slowly, had deep muscle massage once a week, had physio sessions once a month and stretched at least three times a week. I also took Di-Chlorofenac whenever the pain became too much. The worst thing in my case was stopping training altogether. I had a week off over xmas and everything tightened up. |
 2010-07-29 8:02 AM in reply to: #3006089 |
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| 2012-03-25 6:48 AM in reply to: #3006089 |
| Veteran 546 | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica Bit of an old thread but very current to me..Did a HIM in Dec and after the race developed a him and knee issue. Didn't pay much attention and continued to train for another HIM distance in Feb. At that race started getting pain in my right hip and knee and pulled out after the bike leg.Since mid Feb had x-rays and bone scans and no real answer. Because I had a bout of arthiritis 20 odd years ago...that was the line of reasoning...but that was all clear too.Last two weeks been seeing a physio and he things it is sciatica. Got an MRI on Friday and hoping to get results on Tuesday to confirm the diagnosis. Physio has told me to stop all training... Which is making me go mad....is this wise? I was actually ok running and swimming before I was told to stop. The bike has been an issue - since getting all these problems I have had it professionally fitted... But no ridden much...So key question...should just do as the physio says and not train? How do I stop losing fitness and gaining weight!Thoughts appreciated... Gff |
| 2012-03-25 4:56 PM in reply to: #3006089 |
| Member 111 Spring/Woodlands Area | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica Google "foundation training". I have the book, and the intervention works well - usually knocks out pain in a few days. Has done the same for the few other people I've had try it. It's not for everyone, and don't do it if the activities suggested are contraindicated for you for any reason. Also helps if you have someone observe you to make sure you are doing the exercises right. |
| 2012-03-25 9:08 PM in reply to: #4112325 |
| Veteran 546 | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica apglave - 2012-03-26 7:56 AM Google "foundation training". I have the book, and the intervention works well - usually knocks out pain in a few days. Has done the same for the few other people I've had try it. It's not for everyone, and don't do it if the activities suggested are contraindicated for you for any reason. Also helps if you have someone observe you to make sure you are doing the exercises right.
Thanks..what is so different about the Foundation Training to other core exercise we might do or what a physio might prescribe...it isn't another fad? No disrespect intended... |
| 2012-03-25 9:08 PM in reply to: #4112325 |
| Veteran 546 | Subject: RE: Training with Piriformis/Sciatica apglave - 2012-03-26 7:56 AM Google "foundation training". I have the book, and the intervention works well - usually knocks out pain in a few days. Has done the same for the few other people I've had try it. It's not for everyone, and don't do it if the activities suggested are contraindicated for you for any reason. Also helps if you have someone observe you to make sure you are doing the exercises right.
Thanks..what is so different about the Foundation Training to other core exercise we might do or what a physio might prescribe...it isn't another fad? No disrespect intended... |
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