All About Piriformis Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Options

Most of the time, we walk, sit, stand, and move around without considering the different muscles, bones, joints, and tendons involved in those movements. But when something goes wrong, we notice! 

The expert providers at Pain Consultants of Atlanta specialize in helping you move as comfortably as possible. Piriformis syndrome affects millions of people; if you’re one of them, keep reading. This post explains why the syndrome develops, how it feels, and what you can do about it. 

What is a piriformis, anyway? 

Your piriformis muscle is small and flat. It connects the triangular bone between your hip bones in your pelvis to the top of the bone in your thigh or femur. Your piriformis muscle crosses your sciatic nerve, a large nerve going from your spine to your lower body. 

This small muscle helps keep your hip stable, lift your leg, and rotate your leg outward. Since you lift your leg with each step and stabilize from foot to foot as you walk, the piriformis muscle is super important for even small actions such as walking, going upstairs, or even standing still. 

Your sciatic nerve, too, is important because it’s the main nerve that branches off into smaller nerves, so sensation from just about anywhere in your lower body travels through your sciatic nerve to your spine and brain. 

When you have piriformis syndrome, your piriformis may spasm, inflamed, or press against your sciatic nerve, causing sciatica. Sciatica is the main symptom of piriformis syndrome. 

Causes of piriformis syndrome

Since you use your piriformis in all sorts of everyday actions, there are lots of ways you can hurt it, including: 

• Overuse
• Running or other repetitive activities
• Sitting for long periods
• Lifting heavy objects
• Climbing lots of stairs
• A sudden twist from the hip
• A fall
• Other traumatic injuries

You’re at a greater risk of developing piriformis syndrome if you sit for long periods, such as at a desk job, or if you do frequent, intense lower body exercises. 

Symptoms of piriformis syndrome 

When you have sciatica, you feel numbness, tingling, or weakness along the path of your sciatic nerve—from your lower back, down your buttock, and radiating down your leg. When sciatica is caused by piriformis syndrome, you’re most likely to feel symptoms in your butt.

It may hurt to sit, and the longer you sit, the more uncomfortable you may become. Activity, too, may hurt, and the pain will likely worsen the more active you are. In cases of severe piriformis syndrome, even basic daily tasks can become nearly impossible.

Treatments for piriformis syndrome

Sometimes, you don’t need treatment beyond ice and rest to resolve piriformis syndrome. Still, if you have a more severe case, piriformis injections, along with physical therapy, can help. 

The injections we offer for piriformis syndrome contain an anesthetic to relieve your pain and an anti-inflammatory medication. The injection gives you relief and also helps to reduce swelling of your piriformis muscle so that it’s no longer pressing on your sciatic nerve. 

It can take up to a week to feel the full effect. Once your pain has been lessened, we recommend you begin physical therapy to strengthen and improve the flexibility of your piriformis, which helps you avoid future problems. 

If you have pain, numbness, weakness, or tingling in your buttock that radiates down your leg, schedule an appointment at Pain Consultants of Atlanta's most convenient location. We’re happy to answer your questions and suggest a treatment approach to help you live with less pain.