Piriformis muscle cramping like a son of a bitch

DirtyDirtyVagrant

This is the muscle in my butt that I've been bitching about for a while now.

At first I thought I had a pinched nerve, because when it got really aggravated it would also cause numbness and such in my leg and foot, but then I read about it and saw that when the muscle gets really inflamed it can rub against the sciatic nerve.

I guess I'm supposed to work on my core strength and my posture. All I have for equipment is a pair of...barbells? Free bars with heavy plates that I can attach to them (up to 20lbs each or 40lbs on one weight)

Suggestions? Sorry, all I can think to do is squats, but I don't think I have enough weight to get any upper body benefit from them, and also I don't want to injure myself trying them with these weights.

e: I've been stretching it, and it's been helping some, but not much.

strakha_7

This sounds like something I had to deal with for the better part of a year due to sport. A great tool for you will be a foam roller. Roll over your entire thigh area at different angles to the floor to find *the* spot. Then work it out with the roller slowly. Then do whatever stretches you want to do.

As far as squats, adding anything beyond body weight is not a good idea to start with. Leg swings, leg lifts, planks, stretches, free squats (no weight, done for speed), etc. Taking up yoga for a few months was a big part of my recovery too.

Stretch wise, the most effective one I've found is where I cross my ankle across my other knee while sitting in a solid chair. I then press down on the knee that is in the air while making sure the toes on that foot are curled towards the knee and the back is straight.

Usagi

Hi DDV! I have ongoing problems with my piriforms from my legs being two different lengths, and from half a lifetime of sitting at a computer giving me compressed spinal discs (L4-5, S1). That second thing, your symptoms sound exactly like what sent me to the doctor, resulting in two courses of steroids, an MRI and four months of PT. Numbness is bad, very bad. And if you start having foot drop (floppy foot when you're walking) that's even worse, and I had both. So I would really suggest seeing someone as this could be a really serious thing, if not now then in the future.

In my four months of PT, we did every pilates and balance ball ab strengthening move known to man, and I was specifically cautioned to not squat or deadlift until my back stopped hurting without meds. If your core isn't strong enough to hold you stable while you lift, you're at very high risk of injuring yourself worse. So pick up a few pilates DVDs and check out YouTube for instructions on that and balance ball exercises, and get to work on those deep ab stabilizing muscles.

My favorite stretches are the sitting/lying piriformis stretch, and Pigeon Pose
though you'll probably have to work up to pigeon pose, even now on a stiff day I can't do it properly unless I've warmed up with the other stretches.

So I hope this helps you, but please see a doctor, numbness isn't something you should muck about with.

DirtyDirtyVagrant

Reviving this thread because I have more questions

I've seen two doctors about this now, but neither of them seemed to honestly try to figure out what was going on with me. They just handed me medicine and sent me on my way. And the medicine they're giving me isn't working.

I've started stretching, working on my abs, and trying to be better about my posture, and the pain is lessened significantly (Thanks, Usagi! ). But the numbness still appears periodically, and I am increasingly suspicious that the two symptoms are unrelated.

At the same time, he gave me this gabapentin stuff to deal with the numbness assuring me that if I did have a herniated disk, that this would alleviate the symptoms and that I just needed to rest it and find a job that wouldn't aggravate the disk further. It's probably worth mentioning that I experience no back pain whatsoever, and that I have never experienced any neuropathic leg pain, either (apart from some occasional muscle soreness - in my back, that is). My back seems healthy and flexible. I have a good range of motion. There's no stiffness there. It's all in my butt, and the numbness just seems to come and go when I'm walking.

I wonder if it's a circulatory issue. If I go to like a plasma center, will they test my triglycerides and such? And they'll inform me of the results? Like free blood work?

Or can I just set up an appointment with a fucking doctor who has twenty minutes to talk? And run a damned blood test? And look to SEE if my tetanus shot is up to date, instead of asking me, like anyone remembers a shot they got ten years ago?

Sure would be nice to have some real health insurance, too. Maybe I could get an MRI or something. Wheee.

e: This other guy I asked says that it could just be my weight causing nerve compression in my foot when I stand or walk on it, and that it might diminish as I slim down.

See, that's the problem with medical science. You never actually know whether or not you just have a minor issue or if it's something that will irretrievably destroy your quality of life down the road.

Fucking ughhhh.