Piriformis Syndrome
The piriformis muscle
… is a muscle that attaches to the sacrum (base of the spine) and inserts onto an area of the femur (thigh bone) called the greater trochanter. It works to externally rotate the thigh. The sciatic nerve — which is the largest nerve in the body and made up of 5 nerve roots — typically passes underneath the piriformis muscle, but there are variances where it actually pierces the piriformis muscle.
Piriformis syndrome is a condition where the sciatic nerve is being compressed as a consequence of the piriformus muscle being shortened or contracted, therefore putting pressure on the sciatic nerve. This can can cause pain or numbness and tingling the buttock on the affected side. It can also cause pain down the back of the leg, known as sciatica.
It is important to distinguish between sciatica being caused by a herniated disc and sciatica being caused by piriformis syndrome,
as the treatments would be very different.
If you have pain in the buttocks caused by
a tight or contracted piriformis muscle,
we would utilize and incorporate the following to heal you and get you out of pain:
to reduce inflammation to allow the nerve to heal
to restore normal neuromuscular function to the piriformis
procedures to restore normal hip and low back coordination and function to get you out of pain
If, however, the
sciatic pain or buttock pain is caused by a disc bulge or disc herniation,
then you may be a good candidate for
Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression.
CALL US TO FIND OUT
Call now to schedule your evaluation to see if you have piriformus syndrome, or if something else is causing your pain. We look forward to helping you get out of pain so you can start living your happiest, healthiest life with full function, at last.