If it hurts to touch a spot in the middle of one side of your buttocks, you probably have piriformis syndrome. This chronic condition is very difficult to diagnose, because other injuries can produce exactly the same symptoms. Similar pain can be the result of injury to the bones, muscles, tendons, bursae (pads between the tendons and the bones), the hip joint, or the sciatic nerve, but there are ways to determine which condition you might be suffering from.
If you feel more pain when you land after jumping onto one leg, you may have an injured hip joint or a stress fracture in your pelvis or upper leg bones. An X-ray will usually reveal a joint injury, but only a bone scan will reveal a stress fracture.
If you feel pain in your buttocks, especially when you touch your toes while keeping your knees straight, you may have a tear in the large muscles or tendons that run down the back of your hips.
If you feel pain when you touch a point that is in the lowest point of your pelvis (the part that a chair touches when you are sitting) or on the top of your femur (thigh), you may have injured your bursa (bursitis ) or tear the tendons that are attached to the bones at these sites.
If your back hurts, especially when you lean back, and the pain runs down the back of your leg to below your knees, the sciatic nerve is probably pinched in your back.
Cause: The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body. Begins at the bottom of the column,[pasaatravésdeunorificioentreelmúsculopiriformequeestáarribayvariosotrosmúsculosdebajodeélybajaporlaparteposteriordelapiernahastadebajodelarodillaCuandocorreselmúsculopiriformesecontraeyaprietaelnerviociáticodebajodeélApretaryrelajarrepetidamenteelmúsculopiriformepuededañarelnerviociáticoycausardolorSecreequeestalesiónescausadaporunatensióninnatadelmúsculopiriformeounaanomalíaestructuralenlatrayectoriadelnerviociáticoNosepuedeatribuiraunerrorespecíficoenelentrenamiento[passesthroughaholebetweenthepiriformismuscleaboveitandseveralothermusclesbeneathitandgoesdownthebackofyourlegtobelowthekneeWhenyourunthepiriformismusclecontractsandsqueezesthesciaticnerveunderneathitRepeatedlysqueezingandrelaxingthepiriformismusclecandamagethesciaticnerveandcausepainThisinjuryisthoughttobecausedbyaninnatetightnessofthepiriformismuscleorastructuralabnormalityinthepathofthesciaticnerveItcan’tbeattributedtoaspecificerrorintraining[pasaatravésdeunorificioentreelmúsculopiriformequeestáarribayvariosotrosmúsculosdebajodeélybajaporlaparteposteriordelapiernahastadebajodelarodillaCuandocorreselmúsculopiriformesecontraeyaprietaelnerviociáticodebajodeélApretaryrelajarrepetidamenteelmúsculopiriformepuededañarelnerviociáticoycausardolorSecreequeestalesiónescausadaporunatensióninnatadelmúsculopiriformeounaanomalíaestructuralenlatrayectoriadelnerviociáticoNosepuedeatribuiraunerrorespecíficoenelentrenamiento[passesthroughaholebetweenthepiriformismuscleaboveitandseveralothermusclesbeneathitandgoesdownthebackofyourlegtobelowthekneeWhenyourunthepiriformismusclecontractsandsqueezesthesciaticnerveunderneathitRepeatedlysqueezingandrelaxingthepiriformismusclecandamagethesciaticnerveandcausepainThisinjuryisthoughttobecausedbyaninnatetightnessofthepiriformismuscleorastructuralabnormalityinthepathofthesciaticnerveItcan’tbeattributedtoaspecificerrorintraining
Treatment: Priformis syndrome will not go away until you stop running. Don’t run again until you can run without pain in your buttocks. If it hurts to the touch, it has not healed.
In most cases, pedaling a bicycle will also be painful. You probably shouldn’t do any exercises that bend your hips while keeping your knees straight, because this will stretch the sciatic nerve. You may be able to swim if it doesn’t hurt. Medicines usually do not relieve pain, and even if they do, the pain will return as soon as you stop taking them.
Sometimes the pain will go away after a break of a few days to several months; often not. In this case, your doctor will be able to make an accurate diagnosis by injecting a mixture of xylocaine and corticosteroids directly into the piriformis muscle, where it passes over the sciatic nerve. If the pain goes away, you can run again on its own after a few weeks, but remember that this injury tends to reappear. If you feel pain in that area, stop running immediately and do not try to run again until you can do it without pain.