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Piriformis syndrome…please tell me your magic fix!

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  • January 13, 2015 at 12:50 pm #23000
    slowclimb

    So heres me, early 40s trundling away, putting in bigger mileages than ever, getting pbs here there and everywhere. Big MTB rides/races, CX rides, best ever 50, 100 mile times on the road etc etc
    I’ll treat myself to a new bike I decide, maybe not a bad decision but certainly a painful one as it turns out…
    I transferred the measurements as best as I could from my old Giant to my new bike – An Ultegra spec Merida Scultura.
    First ride…hmmmm this isnt as comfy as I hoped, fast as f*ck, but not comfy. I’ll try a new saddle I reckoned – Fizizk Arione, lovely saddle by the way.
    Persevered but by persevere I mean keep banging the miles in while trying to ignore the pain. Tight inner right thigh, elastic band wound up tight tight…kept going, hmmm sore lower back after about an hour-ish, sore hip now too….kept going…
    So after a few months of not very enjoyable rides and pain I went to see a local physio, who is great to be fair, piriformis syndrome… Which if you dont know what it is, it hurts…a lot at times. And supposedly very common among roadies and distance runners.
    I’ve a load of stretches etc to do, changes to lifestyle – dont sit about too much, split long drives up, but its looking like a few months off the bike, I can still MTB as it doesnt hurt anything like so much on that as you move around so much more. The annoying thing is that I now get pain on the old Giant and the CX too which I never did before
    What I’m looking for ideally is some magic way of fixing this and tales from you of how you did this and you were sorted after 10 minutes..no stories of woe please, I’m bad enough as it is…
    Once I am sorted ( I will get sorted, please don’t sow any seeds of doubt :* ) I think I need to look at fit on the Scultura, which is an amazing bike. I know I tried to transfer the settings across but I now realise that the odd mm here and there makes a huge difference to angles etc. To be honest I did realise this then too, i just wanted to play on my new bike!
    I know Retul and the like are supposed to be great but I just dont have Ā£200 to throw at something like that and I’m not covinced its not something you cant do yourself with a bit of time and thought.
    I think a lifetime of just jumping on new bikes with no issues and paying lipservice to stretching has finally caught up with me.
    Joking aside though this is really doing my nut in, it will pretty much write off any hopes of racing I had for 2015. I’m a pretty grumpy chap at the best of times and this isn’t helping so any advice or even just happy tales would be much appreciated.

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  • January 9, 2016 at 8:04 pm #826137
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    heathcliff

    I’ve been suffering with sore

    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 !  .

    March 8, 2015 at 8:03 pm #826135
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    slowclimb

    Been for my Retul fit,
    Been for my Retul fit, mightily impressive. Picked up all my issues too and showed that I am basically a lop sided freak šŸ˜€
    I would heartily recommend it to anyone.
    However… I now need a new stem, bars and a seatpost šŸ™
    The bars and stem are easy enough but I need a decent inline seatpost and I am struggling to find a decent one. The only one I can see is the Thomson one, I already have one on my old Giant and they are great. However my new bike is carbon and I want to keep it all carbon. Does anybody know of any decent inline carbon posts that wont bankrupt me?
    Other thing that was good at the fit was the guy who I went to doesnt sell anything which makes it much more believable that I do need the bars, stem and post!

    February 23, 2015 at 12:20 pm #826133
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    Colin Peyresourde

    Seriously check out the MWOD
    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.

    February 23, 2015 at 12:01 pm #826131
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    slowclimb

    Yeah I think you’re right.
    Yeah I think you’re right. Cheers though it is weirdly reassuring to know that this is pretty common, especially as we all get…….er, more mature šŸ˜•

    Wee update though – I’ve booked a Retul fit for next week, I’ll report back!

    February 20, 2015 at 8:31 am #826129
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    mudfish

    Hey slow, I hope it helps.
    Hey slow, I hope it helps. You dont want to get as bad as I did.
    there are CST therapists all over The UK. Look at upledger for a list if you fancy it. TBH I think flexibility (and strength) is at the core of our problems. Weak glutes, weak adductors and tight psoas.
    http://www.upledger.co.uk/therapists-scotland–n.i..html

    February 18, 2015 at 3:50 pm #826127
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    slowclimb

    Mudfish – cheers for all
    Mudfish – cheers for all that, I’ll look into it. Unfortunately I’m a long, long way from Brighton!
    Crikey – I’ll give that a go, but being Scottish I’ll add in a recovery meal of deep fried mars bar and can of Irn Bru :))

    Just been looking at new saddles in a shop in town, pretty impressed by the Pro ones (Shimano) anybody any experience of them?

    February 18, 2015 at 2:41 pm #826125
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    crikey

    I do Northern yoga.
    In a
    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.

    February 18, 2015 at 8:38 am #826123
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    mudfish

    I had debilitating sciatica
    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.

    February 17, 2015 at 11:10 pm #826121
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    slowclimb

    I have been getting a fair
    I have been getting a fair bit of buttock and upper hamstring pain too peterben ( all on the one side though)
    I’ll have a look at those lumbar extensions and sttetches.
    I’m Scottish crikey, I don’t think we’re allowed to do yoga šŸ™‚
    I can drink more beer though :))

    February 17, 2015 at 9:29 pm #826119
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    crikey

    Do some yoga and drink a lot
    Do some yoga and drink a lot more beer.

    February 17, 2015 at 9:27 pm #826117
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    Colin Peyresourde

    http://youtu.be/Xcx9P5KFNk8
    H
    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.

    February 17, 2015 at 9:07 pm #826115
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    peterben

    Sounds more like an imbalance
    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.

    February 17, 2015 at 4:11 pm #826113
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    slowclimb

    Skew-wiff! Like I am squint!
    Skew-wiff! Like I am squint! Thats exactly what I feel like too! šŸ™

    February 17, 2015 at 3:59 pm #826111
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    mariekb1980

    im the same, my physio has
    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….. šŸ™

    February 17, 2015 at 3:52 pm #826109
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    slowclimb

    Yeah think you’re right
    Yeah think you’re right Jimmy, its time for a new approach, I’m just not sure what!

    I have had the groin pain before in the past when I TTed a lot. It just went away eventually without me really doing anything then, I am a few years older now though! šŸ™‚

    I think the Arione is the wrong saddle probably, its just too narrow. I’m not convinced the Fizik method going on flexibility only really works.

    I did think about a Retul fit but they are quite lot of money and until I get on top of the injury I’m not convinced it would work properly anyway as it goes on range of travel etc, and I think mine would be compromised.

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