Excessive Sitting Is Not Healthy

If you work in an office, you probably spend most of your day sitting. Between meetings, sending & replying to hundreds of emails, working on spreadsheets, phone calls, MS Teams chats, and commuting to work, we spend at least 10 hours a day on our butt. Then once you get home, we relax by binging shows on Netflix, surfing social media, and maybe having some fun with online gaming.

Maybe after a particularly long week, you notice your backside is strangely uncomfortable. You feel some numbness followed by tingling then a shot of pain down your leg.

After applying a heating pad to your back, the pain eases a bit. But the next day at the office you feel the pain coming back. Something is not right. After a quick Google search, you find terms like sciatica, muscle strain, and Piriformis syndrome. What the heck is happening?

Is Piriformis Syndrome The Culprit?

Piriformis syndrome is an uncommon neuromuscular disorder caused when the piriformis muscle compresses the sciatic nerve. The piriformis muscle is a flat, band-like muscle in the buttocks near the top of the hip joint. This muscle is important in lower body movement. It stabilizes the hip joint and lifts and rotates the thigh away from the body. This enables us to walk, shift our weight from one foot to another, and maintain balance. It is also used in sports that involve lifting and rotating the thighs. In short, in almost every motion of the hips and legs.

How Chiropractic Treatment Can Help

Your chiropractor will want to discuss your symptoms and perform a physical exam. If the physical exam is inconclusive, an MRI may be needed. The goal is to rule out sciatica or a herniated disc, for example, which can produce similar symptoms.

Once piriformis syndrome is confirmed, your chiropractor will recommend a course of treatment. In addition to traditional spinal adjustments, two newer treatments, Active Release Technique (ART) and Theralase® may be used on the piriformis muscle to stop it from compressing the sciatic nerve. ART is a soft tissue, a movement-based massage technique that addresses the main cause of the pain, in this case, the piriformis muscle. Theralase is a cold laser treatment. See more about these two methods here.

If the “pain in your butt” is not going away, talk to your chiropractor and get that piriformis muscle back where it belongs.