I've been suffering since the new year, tried various stretches and exercises plus good old ibuprofen but its steadily getting worse. I'm booked in to see the quack in a weeks time but what else can I try between now and then that doesn't involve amputation?
google "Piriformis stretch—Supine" - this is very helpful
McKenzie back stretches are good too
there is no one-size-fits-all answer
Do the stretches or pilates exercises that you can do without too much discomfort until your appointment. The GP may refer you for physio so try to manage your condition until then
Cheers - been doing some of them already, but as its been getting worse I've been googling for other causes. It could be teh bad cat AIDS...
The reason I'm waiting a week is that I'm seeing the gp who also runs a special osteo clinic so it cuts out a step on the referral chain.
Whatever you do, don't read the osteopath/chiropractor thread!
Doh! Meant orthopaedics, not quackery of any sort.
The McKenzie exercises can make things worse with sciatica, depending on what is causing the irritation of the sciatic nerve.
Some thing less extreme is the cat stretch:
Or if you have an exercise / Swiss ball then you can do hip rocking in the same manner as the cat stretch but sitting up with good posture. Rock backwards and forwards, side to side, and then in circles. I'll see if I can find a youtube link.
Here you go. From 2:30 to 3:50 for starters:
I had similar - caused by a herneated/slipped disc. No back pain at first really. Quacky osteopath did me more good than anyone else and happily steered me away from surgical option that GPs seemed keen on (once the huge pill doses had failed)
try the psoas stretch too (google it) its all tied in with the piriformis, HTH
I had this a few years ago and it took percussive massage and stretching to get rid.
Prod around the muscles around your buttock and thigh areas to try and find a sore area.
If you find one then you can try a foam roller, or more likely something like a tennis ball, to apply pressure and 'roll it out', or have someone try to apply percussive type massage to break it up.
Be aware that it will be freakin' painful.
Apply heat/cold/etc to the resulting bruising and do the stretches as mentioned.
If you can't find a sore spot in the muscles it might not be piriformis syndrome so you might need to go see the doc.
I have just also had some muscles in my thigh go sore and had to roll them out, followed by quadricips tendonitus, which I have 'rolled out' with 'The Stick' - the cycle of smash up muscle and let the body fix it up seems to work quite well.
How flexible are you? Is your side splits good?
People stretch out the piriformis to untighten the muscle that has been overused and shortened to compensate the opposite muscle that is stiff and lax.
This is a temporary fix.
You need to find the cause as it will keep happening.
Everyone is unique but in my case it was tight adductors and abductors.
I was inflexible in my side stretch/splits considering I used to do karate.
3 months of stretching 3 times a week and I side kick at head height and no periformis problems.
While in Thailand I got a traditional blind Thai masseur who is a family friend (not those bikini wearing sexy girl masseuse) to sort mine out. Only needed 4 sessions and each session lasted 1 hour 10 mins (no break). If you visit Thailand search for them and make sure they are the ones recommended by the locals.
[b]You Cannot have your massage everyday[/b] because, as I was told my the masseur, it would injure the nerves. Also no shower immediately after massage until several hours later.
edit: My pain was so severe I could not sit, sleep, walk, carry a bag of sugar without feeling tonnes of pressure on my lower back. There is also a possibility that it will affect blood flow to your "little man" or the "little man" might not get up so easily ...
So O.P. should go to Thailand, learn martial arts and get massaged by a blind lady for $30 dollar.
Sorted.
3 months later and O.P. is doing well:
It depends what it is and where the pain is manifesting itself. Mine is exacerbated by tight hamstrings (a cyclist thing) and if I neglect my lower back. Get the pro advice before going beyond simple stretching.
(mine used to hurt from lower back to the back of my left knee. Now mostly focused on the centre of the buttock when it hits).
Look up Foundation Training and Stuart McGill. I have tried just about everything going and these two are the one's which have worked.
McGill is possibly the number one back specialist in the world.
I have a herniated disk, a years worth of sciatica and was due to have surgery at the beginning of this year.
While it's not perfect, it's getting better and I have avoided having my disc butchered.