So I visited the hospital to get the diagnosis after the MRI scan. It's a bit inconculsive. Basically they say they can see a small problem with one of the discs - slightly bulging - but not enough of a problem to take any action, so I just need to manage the problem (unless it gets worse).
They then said I need to keep all of the MRI images as they have no place to store them.
So since then, what have I been doing. Obviously I have tried to be as active as possible, and my back pain hasn't got any worse.. it's still there a bit in the background. However as long as I can continue to make the situation stable, I feel OK with that.
I had a big breakthrough last week when I was able to touch my toes. I thought this was an incredible result considering where I had started from. However my work colleague said he could go past his toes by 20cm !! not sure if I believed him. He is a tri-athelete so probably it is true.
Anyway - I am convinced that the muscle problem is also a major part to this story and that a could physio program is helping.
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Hi, I was doing some research on piriformis syndrome and found this blog. No comments left here... is anyone actively blogging, reading, responding?
I had my lower back totally fail me this week while playing with my son (I'm 39). We thought maybe I had ruptured a disc because I had to miss work for 4 days and basically could not move. My xrays, however, indicated my spine is fine, which is good. Then I went for some therapy and the chiropractor noticed that my piriformis was EXTREMELY tight and tender.
Then I remembered that I had a strange incident many years ago when I was 18. I woke up in the morning and basically could not move my lower body. I went to the ER and they could not find anything. I found it hard to walk and could not run at ALL for about 2 months. I had a difficult time on stairs and it was hard getting around campus for school. We chalked it up to a low blood glucose episode since I am diabetic. We never figured it out to my satisfaction, until now.
I now realize that the result of the episode 21 years ago is almost exactly what I feel now, except that one happened in my sleep and one while I was playing a game with my son (on the playground, somewhat exertive). Why does this happen, but so infrequently, over decades? And what could trigger it?
My piriformis is always tight indeed and when I get massage, I always ask for extra attention on my glutes. Until the last few days I was unaware of the existence of this piriformis muscle but now that I know it's there and what it's called, at least I can direct therapists to focus some deep tissue attention to it.
Is there anything common about people that get piriformis syndrome? I am about 6 ft tall but with very long legs relative to my overall body size, and for that reason my hamstrings have always been tight. Also, I am diabetic.
Hi Mike - to answer your question, the blog seems to be read quite a bit from the site stats.. there are dozens of hits per day - which leads me to believe quite a few people suffer from this.
Some comments from people with similar symptons. Also when I talk to people at work, I am always surprised how many people seem to be suffering with something quite similar.
It seems to affect both athletic and non athletic people..ie.. you can over use the muscle and also under use the muscle (not a great explanation I know).
What I have learnt from this experience is that you can't simply rely on not doing bad things to keep in good health. I have a reasonable diet, I felt I did some exercise, not over weight compared to many.. but still was caught by this thing.. which for a period of time was really a terrible situation.
Hi. I just finished leaving my comments and the blog sent me to a sign in. I was registered but I guess it has been a while. I have sciatica/piriformis and will be rereading the comments. Also want to see if my comments will be posted.
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