Piriformis syndrome...please tell me your magic fix!

I've been suffering with sore piriformis and hip flexors for over a year and originally got a bike fit in it's early stages  (Specialized BG Fit) which made no difference at all . There wasn't anything in the Bikefit that was at all revelatory . With a bit of research online and common sense saddle height, reach, drop  and cleat postition will comeout pretty similar .

I then spent many months trying to ride through the pain ultimately making it worse .  I would imagine the way forward would be to see a proper cycling physio who incoporates fitting, there are a few around as opposed to the High Street bike fitters .

Modern lifestyle sees many of us seated for much of the day shortening our flexors and weakening our core, glutes and hamstrings . 

Time off the bike, drastically reduced mileage, massage and lots of core work and stretching seem to be the way forward .

Good luck !  .

Seriously check out the MWOD stuff. It's all free on youtube, and gives a great range of superb stretches. He has a book, how to become a supple Leopard.

Fundamentally we should all take efforts to do 'body maintenance' especially if you're spending long hours sitting down.

Testing your flexibility (or having someone assess it for you) is a great idea. We should all be able to undertake a basic range of movements through all of our joints, and if you cannot, it is likely that sooner or later you will ask a muscle or joint (or worse, your back) to compensate for the lazy/tight muscles. Just thing of your body as an extension of your drive train (because it is). You wouldn't allow your cassette and chain to wear out to destruction. Don't let the same be of your body - stretching is kind of like flossing/degreasing/regreasing the moving parts of your body.

I do Northern yoga.
In a vest, with my pants tucked into my socks. I use a bit of old carpet instead of a yoga mat. We don't chant, we swear quietly under our breath and you're allowed to smoke your pipe during the relaxation session.
Try it, it'll make you bendier.

I had debilitating sciatica which eventually turned out to be piriformis syndrome. At first I couldn't move, then searing pain for a year, tough to drive, losing sleep, Beachy Head was looking tempting. Seriously. I thought the bikes were going on ebay.
Upledger Cranio Sacral therapy was the magic bullet. Not to be confused with anything else including the word "cranial". It took 11 months for my very experienced sports massage therapist friend (sadly she lives 500 miles away) to persuade me to try it as I am such a sceptic. First session really helped, I had treatment every 14 days for 6 sessions, then monthly for a while. Now, maybe every 8-10 weeks as maintenance, its magical. And it cost me for sure.
Hard massage like balls etc. On the glute didn't help, in fact a strong glute massage can irritate me (my piriformis, I'm told) and bring the sciatica back full on.
Pilates (Stott studio, not mat) helps keep it at bay for sure but wasn't curing it after 10 months. Nir was massage, stretching, local self massage with balls etc.
Keep the hip flexors (psoas) stretched, this is vital, cycling makes them tight and they connect to the spine near a lot of nerves. Thats no 1 for maintenance for me, learn some piriformis stretches, also vital. Near Brighton? I'll show you some (flatpedalthunder (at) gmail.com). Foam rolling is a must but careful on the glute as you can hit the sciatic nerve with roller or tennis balls etc.
My 2C, I think better flexibility will mean you're not so sensitive to bike fit.
Hope it helps.

Do some yoga and drink a lot more beer.

http://youtu.be/Xcx9P5KFNk8

He has some other exercises too. You'd do well just to get into regular stretches and the MWOD YouTube videos have a lot of good stuff. He's a trained physio.

Sounds more like an imbalance and compensation between adductors and Quadratus Lumborum. You don't mention any buttock or hamstring discomfort which generally signifies Piriformis syndrome. Also although you have been reasonably careful in measurements from one bike to another you still have to account for different bike shapes, an MTB is not a cyclocross is not a fast road bike.
Lumbar extensions to counteract the flexed riding position.

im the same, my physio has said if there is no improvement soon (and im being dedicated with the excercises) then she is reffering me up for further investigation....

...I did some long rides last week and everything seemed fine, apart from, I was saddle sore (im a girl, work it out) only on the side where my hip/groin problem is, like there is more pressure on one side, like im skew-wiff or something!

and when I say sore, i mean, hyper sore.....

Me again... have you identified why the groin muscle/tendon is so tight?

I am sure it will be the key to your back problems, but what is causing the tight groin?

Will stretching the problem really solve the problem without understanding what is causing the problem?

You will have an alignment issue somewhere, maybe muscular, maybe skeletal, but at a given point you will need to think about stepping up the level of treatment.

You have been seeing your physio for a while now, and it does not sound as though he/she has really cracked it... for me, I'd suggest it was time to start looking down a different route of treatment.

As an aside... I have stopped all stretching, instead focus on range of movement and core strength exercises. Muscles don't tend to tighten up if they are not looking after an existing problem IME.

I have a shed load of back problems and my piriformis tightening is a sign of worse to come, so I back off.
I stretch. I do core work. I do weights. Use a roller and ball. I swim. I have a non-aggressive position. I have Fizik Aliantes on all my bikes.
And life is better than it was. And I ride more.
Don't take it lightly!

Last shout for the ALiante... the Charge Spoon is built on the same chassis shape as the Aliante, just using plastic resin rather than any fancy carbon stuff.

Good luck with getting it sorted.

I feel more comfortable in jeans on an Aliante than in good quality bibshorts on an Arione. The latter is horrific for me.

Re the Charge Spoon, you can customise to get the right look:
http://custom.chargebikes.com
That said, a saddle that is great on the MTB may not be so on a road bike, as you lean forward more and (ideally) rotate the pelvis more.

I paid £110 for my bike fitting from a guy at manchester velodrome if that's accessible to you.

Would also recommend a bike fit, had the Spexialisedyone at £120 (plus 110 on shoes and 70 on bars etc..) It isn't cheap but all the things that used to make me want to,stop riding are gone. As someone else said it is a lot of money in one go but over a lifetime on the bike it's peanuts.
Also tried both those Fizik saddles as part of the fit, the Arione was agony but I stuck with it for 10 days and about 200 miles because the expert recommended it. The Aliante was much better but had a Charge Spoon at home and that for me is better than either Fizik. If I could I would try some more, saddles are very very personal and what you and I might find torture others might find perfect.

Would also recommend a bike fit, had the Spexialisedyone at £120 (plus 110 on shoes and 70 on bars etc..) It isn't cheap but all the things that used to make me want to,stop riding are gone. As someone else said it is a lot of money in one go but over a lifetime on the bike it's peanuts.
Also tried both those Fizik saddles as part of the fit, the Arione was agony but I stuck with it for 10 days and about 200 miles because the expert recommended it. The Aliante was much better but had a Charge Spoon at home and that for me is better than either Fizik. If I could I would try some more, saddles are very very personal and what you and I might find torture others might find perfect.

Get fitted - I'm in the process of recovering from my second discectomy due to poor fit and riding through it. It's not been fun.

A point on the Fizik saddles: the widths are all much the same (143 or 146 from memory) it's just the shapes that are different. Spesh and Selle Italia offer measuring services which will give you a correct width and are worth looking at.

I can 100% sympathise with you, ive been suffering with it since august, its stopped me riding, running, circuit training and generally keeping on top of myself.

I think im getting somewhere then im back to square one, im seeing a physio on the nhs now after I ran out of cash going private and shes great and has given me stuff to relieve the symptoms, but also by addressing the problem.

Mine is down to weak hip flexors, so ive got a rigourous routine of foam rolling my IT band, (when that’s tight, it pulls on everything in my butt) trigger point therapy with a hard rubber dog on my butt and a whole heap of strengthening and stretching excercises for my core and hip and hamstrings. Looking back a year from now, I stopped doing hip adductor and abductor excercises in my core routine then started to suffer with my hamstring, and then it spiralled form there.

Its making a difference, just this week I can sit at my desk without that dull toothache in my butt, can walk without limping and ride.

Foam roller on your IT band, do it now!

As a long term sufferer, thigh muscle, hip and lower back doesn't seem right for Piriformis Syndrome to me (not problem on a bike btw). I'd look more towards the bike fit etc which would be good news.
have you actually been measured for saddle with the cushion thingy?

Flexibility (as per the Fizik test thingy) is only part of the issue with the saddle - your sit-bones should be the part of your anatomy bearing the weight on the saddle, and as such Fizik offer three widths; Arione, Antares and Aliante (in order of width, starting with the narrowest). I don't know if this would exacerbate your problem, but I wouldn't be surprised your pelvis was dropping more on one side due to a narrow saddle and associated lack of support.