A Right Pain in the Butt

 

 

So it turns out that I have something called piriformis syndrome, where a small muscle in my butt (just under the glutes) has tightened up so much (through sitting) that it’s pressing on the sciatic nerve and causing a lot of pain in my lower back, butt and right down my left leg.  Unfortunately sitting is incredibly painful and seems to make the pain a whole lot worse.

Things are getting gradually better after a lot of acupuncture, chiropractic, deep tissue massage, Rolfing, stretching, hot baths and heat treatments but progress is slow, and as you can imagine, blogging is almost impossible.

So I’ve reluctantly and sadly decided to stop blogging for a bit and just focus on resting my hip and getting treatment, hopefully back at the beginning of January.

 

 

In the meantime I wish you all a very happy holiday season, with lots of love and laughter.  I will miss you all horribly.

 

If anyone has had this and can recommend any treatmets that helped you, let me know in the comments.  I’m dying of frustration here.

Comments

[K]

Oh no!! That's awful! Wishing you a beautiful and distracting Christmastime and a healed-up new year.

[Dana]

Aw Paola, I'm sorry you're having such a tough time. Get well soon and have a merry Christmas!

[Brianne]

We will miss you - but take the important rest and we will see you soon!

[Bianca]

Merry Christmas to you and your merry band in Seattle. Hope you're feeling better soon. I'll take a tour of what's on the web in terms of information on your condition and let you know if anything promising turns up.

Take care!

Bianca

[Sandra]

Sorry you are in such pain and discomfort! We'll all be here when you get back. I'll be taking a few days off from the blog as well, though luckily not for pain managment reasons. Just a break too.

Here's to getting better!

[Cally]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Paola.

Sorry to read you have piriformis syndrome, but very interested in the description as i've been messed up by something similar since august. been getting myofacial release which has helped but I can't afford any more treatments. Will read your link with interest. Hope you get relief soon, if it's like mine it will have been dementing you.

Your blog looking as beautiful as ever - Cally

[Raed]

Have you tried a TENS unit? I used to wear one for up to 8 hours a day for hip pain. Now recovering from hip surgery, I wish I had the surgery 18 months ago. Love the TENS unit. You can even sleep with it on. Get a good one. Move the pads around until you get the right spots and ahhhhh relief.

[Cindy]

Paola,

Just happened upon your blog and am thoroughly enjoying it...something I don't normally do. Anyway, hope your sciatica is better. I went through the same thing and it lasted about six months. Went to chiropractor, didn't help; deep tissue massage was helpful; had a TENS treatment that worked for several hours; stopped all exercise, except walking; bought 'Lose the Back Pain' and was very faithful to the program's stretching regimen..all to no avail. Bought an inversion table, which I found to be very helpful by getting blood supply to that area. After lots of laying on the couch, eventually, without any doctor intervention, I finally came out of it. I also discovered yoga during this time. My lower back pain still persisted, but that was nothing compared to the pain in my glute. Now, four years later I'm starting to get that feeling again in my glute...not good. The good news, however, is recently my lower back pain has disappeared. I think I know why. Good luck to you, but I honestly think it's something you have to work through on your own and it will go away.