What is Piriformis Syndrome? - Dr. Keiber Codrington

Piriformis Syndrome (PS) can be explained as a musculoskeletal condition - very painful - primarily located in the hip or buttock region that may cause radiation downward into the leg on the affected side.

The muscle itself simply runs diagonally across from the sacroiliac joint to the head of the femur or hip bone.

In terms of its function, it is responsible for external rotation (turning out), abduction (lift to side) and partial extension (stretching backwards) of the hip.

The muscle itself may have been knowingly or unknowingly injured (as with a fall in sitting position) which causes the sciatic nerve as it passes through to be inflamed or irritated. The amount of pain corresponds to the amount of irritation.

Statistically, it is found that women are affected six times more than men, This is more than likely because of the wider pelvic or hip angle. Additionally another interesting factor if that the sciatic nerve can pass along or through the piriformis muscle in about five different ways.

Therefore a presentation of PS is not always simple when - during physiotherapy- the Physiotherapist is working to release that trapped sciatic nerve, depending on its orientation in the muscle. A little patience is required, especially in a pain syndrome such as PS.

The causes include: Gluteal (buttock) trauma , myofascial trigger points, spasm of the piriformis muscle after back surgery, abscess/infection, haematoma/clot, myositis (inflamed muscle), bursitis of the piriformis muscle, colorectal carcinoma/cancer, neurinoma of the sciatic nerve, intragluteal injection and surgical femoral (hip bone) nailing after a fracture injury amongst others.

At Physiocare our detailed assessment is aimed at uncovering the causational factors and prescribing a plan of care which is individual to each patient suffering from this condition.