Piriformis Syndrome - stretches/exercises?

Triathlon Forum
1

Does anyone out there have any good Piriformis/Gluteal stretches or exercises they care to share? I have a case of it starting to bother me and want to get rid of it once & for all. My masseuse did a great job last night, but I want to make sure I can start taking better care of it myself.

Thanks in advance

2

YES! You do NOT want this to get worse, I had to take 4 months off running a few years ago to deal with it.

My stretches:

  1. lay on your back, pull sore leg’s knee to chest twisting it across your chest, you should feel a pull in yer butt.
  2. lay on your back, put ankle of sore leg on other leg’s knee, pull non-sore side’s knee to chest. This one can be tough to do, take it easy. You can do it standing up, if you have a pole, bench, spinbike, etc. to hold onto, justput the ankle on the opposite knee and squat down. My fave.
  3. If my butt’s really tight, I get a golf ball and put it between my sore butt cheek and something hard, the wall, etc. and move around til I find the knot. Work it baby, this can be just as effective as your RMT’s elbows.

Hope this helps. Oh yeah, and work on your core, that’s the main reason this problem occurs.

3

here ya go

http://www.smiweb.org/guides/

Open the guide on injury prevention for triathletes and scroll down to page 7 or 8…bonus points for identifying the dude in the photos.

4

Hope this helps. Oh yeah, and work on your core, that’s the main reason this problem occurs.
I read something that made sense to me - tight abductor muscles can cause the piriformis to chronically overwork to keep your leg aligned properly. I know my abductor is tighter on the side where I struggle with piriformis syndrome…

5

http://www.drbackman.com/piriformis-muscle-stretch.htm
.

6

Do you have any good examples of abductor exercises? Or should I just use the machine at the gym?

7

think about tibbs

clench

repeat
.

8

I found this to be the only stretch that really worked on my piriformis. You stand next to something about waist high, I use my small car or a table. You bring your left leg up and lay it cross ways on the hood of the car/table so that the foot is facing to the right. Try to lay your upper body down on top of your leg. I stretch straight down and then to each side. I switch legs to do the other side. I tried all the other stretches and this is the only one that worked for me. I saw this stretch on a sports medicine web site and I thing Dave Scott wrote somehting about it. I do the stretch after every run and bike.

9

What helped me most was the massage idea with a base ball or the TP ball. Laying on my back with the ball between my butt and the floor. Then move around on it. It hurts a lot when you hit the right spot, but it softens the spasm in the piriformis. Then stretch as recommended.

Stefan

10

It’s not uncommon to develop a muscle imbalance, either in your hammies (most common) or in your abductors along with the piriformis flaring up… again, it’s usually a symptom of a larger problem: weak core. The weak core plus all the large muscle group training will pull your lower back and pelvis into a down-right WRONG position, which then causes the muscle imbalances. When I first received Physio for my butt, not only was my piriformis like a big fat sausage, my hammie on the same side was was overdeveloped compared to the non-affected side, and my glute max on the affected side simply wasn’t doing anything. In fact, I had to retrain it to fire again!

I wouldn’t spend anytime working abductors unless your Physio or doctor told you to. I’d focus on your core instead. Or better yet, go to see a good physio and have them help you figure out what to work on.

11

No, this article just advised stretching the abductor, not strengthening (tightening) it. I agree with you about the core though - a weak core causes all kinds of trouble.

12

Gotcha, sorry for the mis-read. :wink:

13

One suggestion, confirm this is what you have before you go too far. I was sure that this is what I have been fighting since Aug. I even had the pain radiating down the leg, indicating sciatica involvement. After self-treating for many months I finally went to a PT/AT in January. Turns out it is the tendon at the top of the hamstring that is irritated. I posted about my pain in the A$$ a couple of weeks ago. Treatment is still some stretching, but also ice and NSAID’s. The stretch where you stand next to a table and put your outside foot on the table is the one I am doing. Ice has been the biggest difference. Also significantly cut my bike time, as that was what was irritating mine. Good luck!

14

I’m nearly 100% that this is the exact same problem I had when training for my marathon back in 2003. It came about this time because I became lax at taking care of my hip because I upped my training hours and forgot to increase my self-care/recovery hours - DOH!

I’m going to schedule an appt with my PT and with the bike fitter to ensure that I can rule out all other angles a.s.a.p.

Thanks

15

My was caused by the bike, but immediately after my first tri I started training for my first marathon and that made it worse. Right now, as long as I just run I am fine, but as soon as I get on the bike I am crying the next day. My PT asked if it was on my sitz bone. I had no idea, so he had me lay on my stomach and put his finger into my butt cheek, up to the bone. OUCH!! That was the confirming diagnosis.

16

I might be the world’s leading expert at limping around with a sore ass. I have had 4 go arounds with this in 5 years. It’s variations on problems with my L4 lumbar disk- bulging, putting pressure one nerve root. Each time I a dedicate several months to PT- stretching, core exercises, limited running, lots of ibuprofen or naprosyn.

Right now I’m at it again, this time right leg vs left 6 months ago. Pain down my leg so intense I cried like a baby on the floor with my 15 yr old kid thinking I was freaking out. Sleeing 2-3 hours a night because each time I move it hurts enough to wake me up. I have dr appt Tues, back to PT and hope to figure out how to fix it once and for all. Oh yes and lots of coedine-tylenol.

Bottom line- anyone over 40 has degeneration in disk, keep your hips, hamstrings, core strong and flexible. Many sources for stretches, or take a class in lower back-core at your PT or somewhere.