Piriformis advise

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toride
Posts: 153
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2011 6:19 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

by toride

Hello guys and girls

PIRIFORMIS..
ive got it and had it all bloody year, its driving me mad, im still riding but im so uncomfortable for anything from 30mins to 60min untill i can start to settle on my saddle, Im constantly trying to stretch but its very hard and limited, i use a cricket ball to sit on and grind into the area that hurts and seems to give me some short lived release.

Not wanting to bore you all to death with it but anyone got any brief advice or pearls of wisdom to pass my way.

it will be greatly appreciated.

thank you.

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grover
Posts: 1302
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 1:06 pm

by grover

Everyone's got it. It's a muscle. You're better off with it!

As for when causes pain and discomfort, yes very annoying. It's usually the one that has to do more work when you've got poor stability elsewhere. It may be where you feel the problem is, but it's just what suffers from a problem elsewhere. No amount of stretching/massage/releasing will fix the original problem.

A good sports physiotherapist (or the equivalent in your country) should be able to assis stability of the core/pelvic/hip region as well as motor control/timing patterns of this region and give you an exercise regime to improve the defecit which will take load off the piriformis muscle and solve your problem.

For a quick experiment that may help try different saddle angle (I'd consider saddle nose up to give your pelvis/core more stability and take some load off piriformis - as this will hold you back on the saddle you may also need to slide saddle forward or lower it a few millimetres), or different saddle to see if it changes anything.

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jekyll man
Posts: 1570
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:23 am
Location: Pack filler

by jekyll man

I suffered with it for a year, and it wrecked my whole race season, as well as screwing up my local riding; couldn't climb without getting crippled. Hard to do rides here that don't involve any..

Tried the usual approaches for 6 months, and that had no effect. Changed sports therapists, who suggested trying a different method.
She literally just played with the muscle fibres, and it felt like nothing was happening, but the next day it was like something was being freed off big time. A couple of sessions and it was noticibly better.
Not suffered for nearly 3 years now :)

I'll PM you her website. Talk to her, and she maybe able to give you more details on her method, and someone more local to you who is familiar with the approach.
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gazrichards
Posts: 144
Joined: Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:11 pm

by gazrichards

As a sports injury rehabilitation professional I would say go and see someone like myself for treatment.
A sports massage therapist will do. No need for osteopaths or physio here I don't think.
What ever self treatment you are doing is only going to scratch the surface of what is needed and a good massage will work not just the piriformis but the other muscles in the area too (which sounds like what happened to Jekyll)
If you have piriformis problems it could be due to weakness or tightness somewhere else anyway so stretching and working the piriformis could do no good what so ever.
A treatment should cost you between £20 and £30 for a half hour session and find one that has worked with cyclists before so ask around your ride buddies for recommendations.

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EcoRacer
Posts: 39
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2010 8:13 pm
Location: Oslo, Norway

by EcoRacer

As mentioned before, the problem might not be where you think it is. Always check upstream and downstream of the problem area.

Stretching and foam rolling is generally good for some temporary relief but is often not a solution in the long term.
Had the same problems with my right piriformis and a prolapsed L4-L5, 1.5 years ago.
Too much cycling and sitting at work caused a great imbalance in my quads, core, glutes and hamstring strength. (weak glutes, tight hamstrings, overworked piriformis.)

Building up to some heavy squatting way below parallel, which seems to help for hip mobility, as well as core work and extra glute/hamsting work.

In addition i changed my saddle position (fore-aft and angle) which has helped a bunch.

Could be a bunch things so it is best to contact a professional about this. (A fysiotherapist with cycling experience might be a good start)

CerveloBert
Posts: 284
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2011 12:43 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

by CerveloBert

I am a rider currently in my third year of training with power. I do not race, and my weekly volume is about 6-7 hours a week. I had this symptom develop in my piriformis and it actually ended up really having a dramatic effect on my lower back pain. I knew it was my piriformis because it was the least flexible muscle I had. I incorporated about 30 minutes of stretching every night prior to sleeping and the problem has corrected itself.

During the 30 minutes of stretching though, I do a full stretch to hold of all major hamstring stretches, foam roll the ITB for a good 5-10 minutes on both sides, and use a trigger point ball to really get deep into the piriformis muscle. It beats paying some dude jabbing their thumb into your ass to release that tension there as one can back off when the applied pressure is 'unbearable'.

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by Weenie


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