Common Piriformis Injury Causes

Sometimes, when you pull a muscle, you can tell exactly where it is by where you're feeling pain. But when you're dealing with piriformis injury symptoms, it's not always obvious. That's why it's important to know the symptoms, but it's also important to understand how the piriformis injury causes. First, because you may be able to avoid injury in the first place. Second, if you're feeling symptoms, you might be able to trace it back to the point of injury, which will help determine what type of injury you have.

How Can You Injure the Piriformis Muscle?

It is shockingly easy to injure the piriformis muscle. As you fully extend your leg, whether it is during a walk, cycle or swim, it is the gluteus maximus that is primarily responsible for this movement, but there are external rotators that help. Those rotators are also hard at work whenever the leg is rotated. If, for any reason, the rotators are used for an extended period of time, they are likely to experience injury. This may happen as a result of a muscle imbalance or muscle weakness (where the rotators pick up the slack for weaker muscles).

Let's take a look at some common examples:

1. Hyper- or Hypopronation of the Ankle. Whenever there are issues with the ankle, it is common to see the entire leg rotate to overcompensate. So, instead of engaging the leg, the action is shifted up to the hip extensors, which includes the hamstrings, glutes and external rotators.

2. Weak Abductor Muscles. Abductor muscles help to stabilize the pelvis while you walk, so it stays level as you switch from foot to foot. Just more proof that our bodies work a whole lot harder than we realize. But these muscles often become overused and weak, which causes the adductor muscles to become tight and potentially contracted. Since adductors help with hip extension and rotation, this domino effect extends to impact hip extension, putting pressure on the external rotators, which then puts them at risk for injury. Essentially, when one muscle doesn't work properly, others have to pitch in to get the job done, stretching them too thin.

Is a Piriformis Injury the Same as Piriformis Syndrome?

Not necessarily. Piriformis syndrome is caused by a piriformis injury, but a piriformis injury does not necessarily cause piriformis syndrome. Confused yet? Think of the injury as a simple muscle strain. If that strain becomes inflamed or begins to spasm, it may put pressure on the sciatic nerve. If this happens, the injury becomes piriformis syndrome.

Either way, it is important to treat the piriformis injury so it doesn't get worse. Fortunately, stretching has been proven to help in both situations. The main issue is that it's difficult to know when you are properly stretching that muscle, which is why we produced the Piri-Stretcher®.The Piri-Stretcher® is registered with the FDA as a class 1 medical device, and it is used to treat piriformis syndrome and sciatica.

Piriformis Syndrome and Acupuncture

Have you ever heard anyone say that Piriformis Syndrome is rare? Well, it's probably not as rare as those may think. Many cases of this syndrome are categorized under the blanket of “low back pain”, and so, they may not be treated properly. 

Low back pain can be treated a number of ways, depending on its root cause; and it definitely helps to know whether it is a disc or a muscle that is causing your pain. Since piriformis syndrome, at its root, is a muscle issue, we've decided to explore acupuncture as a treatment in this week's post.

Acupuncture as Treatment for Piriformis Syndrome

Much like with any other treatment, acupuncture for PS starts with a thorough examination. The practitioner will attempt to locate the area where the nerves are pinched. For example, if the patient is experiencing pain in the buttock area, the nerves are likely being compressed in the inferior gluteal region.

Many practitioners claim they can spot piriformis syndrome on sight because the patient tends to lean toward the unaffected side while sitting or standing in order to reduce sciatic nerve compression. Patients with these symptoms also rely on heavy doses of ibuprofen or naproxen to dull the pain. Of course, this isn't enough of an exam to diagnose piriformis syndrome, though. It is recommended that patients see the general practitioner, and then, likely, a specialist for their diagnosis before they seek a treatment such as acupuncture.

Typically, an acupuncturist will use gauge #36 Chinese acupuncture needles of 1.5 to 2-inches in length. Treatment is done with a micro-current device and is focused on two to four trigger areas on the piriformis muscle itself.

Most acupuncturists suggest that patients seek treatment one to three times per week. The frequency will depend on the level of pain they are experiencing. Many patients experience some level of relief by their eighth treatment. This may include improved range of motion and reduced pain and tingling.

Piriformis Syndrome and Stretching

Although piriformis syndrome may improve with acupuncture treatment, acupuncturists also recommend stretching the muscle to aid in treatment. Check out this excerpt from a 2002 Acupuncture Today article:

“A course of daily stretching exercises is recommended (part of the protocol) to patients to assist in recovery of the muscles and tendons.”

The article goes on to recommend posture training as part of treatment, which makes perfect sense because posture is such an important part of maintaining back health.

We've found that many patients have trouble targeting the piriformis muscle with their at-home stretches, which is why we developed the Piri-Stretcher®.

The Piri-Stretcher® is an FDA registered medical device that is specifically designed to help the user target their stretch to the piriformis muscle in order to strengthen the muscle and speed up recovery time.

The bottom line about acupuncture for piriformis syndrome is that it may be effective, but it works best when combined with a daily or weekly stretching regimen. 

Alternative Methods for Pain Management

When you're first prescribed pain medication, it may seem like a happy day. Not that you're a fan of drugs or anything, but the medication seems give hope for an an end to your pain. It even works for a short time – until you have to start taking more, and then more still. And then you realize that you're more reliant on these pills than you would like to be. And where you could see an end to your pain before, now you just see a road that leads to addiction.

With 31 million Americans suffering from low back pain alone, this is an issue that affects a great number of people in our country. So, how can we manage pain without relying on medications with serious side effects and risks of addiction? There are quite a few natural pain relievers out there. The key is finding the right one, or combination of ones, that works for you.

Stretching

A staggering 70 to 80 percent of low back pain is muscle related; this is due to conditions such as sciatica, Myofascial pain and piriformis syndrome. Stretching can help loosen tight muscles and begin relieving pain that may be caused as a result of muscle tension. As an example, piriformis syndrome is caused when the piriformis muscle, one of the lateral rotators buried deep to the gluteal muscles, is stressed or tight and puts pressure on the ever-important sciatic nerve. This pressure causes an array of pain in the lower back, buttocks, and legs; and often leads to Sciatica. By using a therapeutic tool, such as the Piri-Stretcher®, to target stretches to the correct muscle, patients increase strength and mobility and can begin to heal the muscle that is at the root of so much pain.

Lifestyle changes

No one wants to hear this, but if you're carrying around some extra weight, this may be causing or contributing to your pain – especially if that pain is in your back. Diet and exercise can help you shed the problematic weight, which can help relieve your pain. This method alone may not eliminate the pain entirely, but depending on how much weight you lose, it can make a major impact.

Chiropractic care

If your pain is in the back, a good chiropractor may be able to help relieve it for you. Chiropractors are trained in healing the back and keeping it healthy, and they employ various methods to help get your back into proper alignment and keep your muscles from tensing up. The right chiropractor will find the root cause of your issue and begin a treatment plan to help you get better over the long term. This method is aimed at actually healing what ails you, and not just covering up the problem with medication.

Low back pain sufferers incur a wide array of costs from pain relief methods including surgery, physician visits, X-rays, MRI scans, medications and injections in order to try to make pain go away. Some of these costs are necessary in order to identify and start treating the problem. Others are likely to mask the symptoms, which may do more harm than good in the long run. Instead of covering up the problem, maybe it's time to start making real progress with a pain-relief program targeted at solving the underlying issue.

Stretches for Piriformis Syndrome: Do They Work?

In the interest of full disclosure, we sell a product that helps with piriformis stretches. But we're not promoting stretching because of the product, we've actually produced the product because we know that stretching helps, and we wanted to make it easier for people to target the piriformis muscle in their stretches. 

Okay, so now down to the nitty gritty. We don't expect you to take us on our word that stretching works. Let's look at the results of a few studies and articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals.

1. Piriformis syndrome: a rational approach to management. This article was published in the December 1991 issue of the journal Pain, and as promised in the title, it outlines a rational approach to managing piriformis treatment. The approach is as follows:

     1. Correct any underlying issues that may be causing piriformis syndrome

     2. Prescribe an at-home program of muscle stretching, which may be augmented with physical therapy.

     3. A trial of steroid injections may be attempted (although more recent studies have found that this may not be the best course of action any longer).

     4. If all else fails, consider a surgical intervention.

2. The Effectiveness of Electrotherapy with Manual Therapy in the Treatment of Piriformis Syndrome. In this 2012 International Journal of Rehabilitation Sciences study, researchers divided 50 patients with piriformis syndrome into two groups. The control group underwent electrotherapy and the experimental group underwent manual therapy (including soft tissue and joint mobilization techniques with stretching exercises. Both groups had regular physical therapy sessions for three weeks and were taught a self-care plan to use at home. Researchers found that the experimental group of stretchers scored lower on total disability tests at the end of the study than those in the control group, leading researchers to conclude that stretching with soft tissue and joint mobilization is a more effective treatment for piriformis syndrome than electrotherapy.

3. The Piriformis Syndrome. In clinical study, as noted in the American Journal of Orthopedics, researchers concluded that a surgical intervention is rarely necessary to treat piriformis syndrome, and conservative treatments are sufficient in most cases to treat symptoms, such as buttock pain, radiating anterior thigh, groin or lower limb pain, pain while sitting, and low back pain associated with piriformis syndrome. Patients in this study used stretching and other conservative treatments such as ultrasound, local massage and eliminating negative habits.

Now that you have the data, talk to your doctor about piriformis treatment methods. If you're interested in learning more about our medical device to help with stretching, visit our website at www.MiracleStretch.com. Here, you'll find more information on piriformis syndrome and recommended stretching exercises.