Dealing with Piriformis Syndrome

Hey everyone,
I wanted to ask for some advice regarding the syndrome mentioned in the subject line and how to handle treatment.

Does anyone have recommendations for a good trainer or physical therapist who specializes in this?
I've been dealing with this since 2016—basically, a muscle is pressing on a nerve, sending pain all the way down my leg. About a year ago, it started affecting my right leg too, and sometimes the pain is just unbearable. I try to avoid taking any pills unless the pain gets truly intense.

Sometimes stretching helps, but more often than not, it actually makes things worse...
If anyone has any experience with this, I’m open to anything. I've tried a few different types of massage and training sessions, but the pain always finds its way back.
I'm based in Cleveland, so if you know a specialist or a PT in the area who might be able to help, I'd really appreciate the lead.

I highly recommend the Sciopion clinic in Cleveland for anything involving muscles, bones, ligaments, or tendons.

I dealt with some piriformis issues once I took up running, but stretching, glute exercises, and foam rolling did the trick for me.

Jacob Mitchell said:I highly recommend the Sciopion clinic in Cleveland for anything involving muscles, bones, ligaments, or tendons.

I dealt with some piriformis issues once I took up running, but stretching, glute exercises, and foam rolling did the trick for me.

Thanks so much for the reply!
I actually visited them about five years ago when the pain first started, but I didn't have much luck. They just gave me a quick massage with some kind of device.
If I head back there, I think focusing on glute development might really help. Could the pain itself be caused by weak glutes? I'm also dealing with a knee issue, so I can't do many squat-based exercises that are usually great for building those muscles.
Just curious, did you see Mistura specifically, or someone else?

Yeah, over at Mistura.
Can you still do glute bridges with a bad knee? Of course you can. Squats aren't the only way to train. 😉

Jacob Mitchell said:Yeah, over at Mistura.
Can you still do glute bridges with a bad knee? Of course you can. Squats aren't the only way to train. 😉

I'll give Mistura another shot. Thanks for the feedback—hopefully, this does the trick. 🙂

lonecanyon83 said:Hey everyone,
I wanted to ask for some advice regarding the syndrome mentioned in the subject line and how to handle treatment.

Does anyone have recommendations for a good trainer or physical therapist who specializes in this?
I've been dealing with this since 2016—basically, a muscle is pressing on a nerve, sending pain all the way down my leg. About a year ago, it started affecting my right leg too, and sometimes the pain is just unbearable. I try to avoid taking any pills unless the pain gets truly intense.

Sometimes stretching helps, but more often than not, it actually makes things worse...
If anyone has any experience with this, I’m open to anything. I've tried a few different types of massage and training sessions, but the pain always finds its way back.
I'm based in Cleveland, so if you know a specialist or a PT in the area who might be able to help, I'd really appreciate the lead.

I'd suggest checking out this blog post - Piraformis. It's got quite a few solid tips on how you might be able to help yourself. Since you mentioned you've been dealing with this for years, maybe pay extra attention to the section about identifying and getting rid of the actual root cause.

The real headache with Piraformis syndrome is just how incredibly difficult it is to pin down a diagnosis. We're talking about a situation where only about 6% of people presenting with these specific symptoms actually have true Piraformis syndrome. The other 94%? It's almost always classic sciatica caused by a herniated disc or some other kind of nerve compression.

I've been dealing with nearly identical symptoms for almost a year now, and honestly, nobody has been able to give me a straight answer or a solid diagnosis yet.

Look, if your MRI or CT scan shows "clear" evidence of the muscle pressing against the nerve, and you pass all the clinical tests—like the Freiberg, Beatty, and Pace signs, plus the FAIR test—then yeah, it's possible you're looking at Piraformis syndrome.

lonecanyon83 said:Hey everyone,
I wanted to ask for some advice regarding the syndrome mentioned in the subject line and how to handle treatment.

Does anyone have recommendations for a good trainer or physical therapist who specializes in this?
I've been dealing with this since 2016—basically, a muscle is pressing on a nerve, sending pain all the way down my leg. About a year ago, it started affecting my right leg too, and sometimes the pain is just unbearable. I try to avoid taking any pills unless the pain gets truly intense.

Sometimes stretching helps, but more often than not, it actually makes things worse...
If anyone has any experience with this, I’m open to anything. I've tried a few different types of massage and training sessions, but the pain always finds its way back.
I'm based in Cleveland, so if you know a specialist or a PT in the area who might be able to help, I'd really appreciate the lead.

Ugh, tell me about it, I'm going through the exact same thing. One doctor tells me it's piriformis syndrome, then another one swears it's nothing like that and claims it's actually an L5 issue or a herniated disc, so they just keep sending me from one specialist to another for endless exams and treatments... I'm just paying and paying, and half a year later, I still don't have a straight answer. I've blown way more $6.75 on all these tests (everything has to be private because if you go through the public system, you'll be waiting for months), seeing incompetent doctors who just rip me off without helping a damn thing. The American healthcare system can be such a nightmare. How much longer