Symptoms
Piriformis syndrome is often similar to a herniated disc with pain in the lumbar region, the back of the buttocks and even the possibility of radiating into the leg. The character of the pain is bright and sharp, as is common with nerve pain. The pain radiates often according to the course of the nerves upwards towards the lumbar spine and downwards towards the leg.
The pressure on the nerves can cause a “tingling” sensation in its typical skin supply area in the leg, whereby paralysis of the leg muscles is almost never observed. In addition, the pain is intensified on the affected side, especially when climbing stairs, cycling, running, swimming or lying down. Pain is the main symptom of Piriformis Syndrome.
The pain is caused by the tension of the piriformis muscle. The pain is particularly severe in the gluteal region. They can also radiate into the back of the thigh.
Occasionally, the pain even extends to the knee. Some of the affected persons also complain of pain in the lumbar region, but this is usually quite unspecific. Another characteristic of the Piriformis syndrome is that the pain symptoms are intensified by certain movements.
Especially rotary movements can trigger or intensify the pain.This includes, for example, crossing your legs or turning over in bed. Often, both sides are not equally affected by the pain. In most cases, the piriformis syndrome only affects one side, but occasionally the opposite side may also be affected.
The pain is caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve, which passes the piriformis muscle. Due to incorrect posture or violent movements, the muscle is severely tensed, pressing on the sciatic nerve and causing shooting pain. This topic might also be of interest to you:
- Pinched sciatic nerve
Piriformis syndrome can cause numbness in the buttocks in addition to the typical pain symptoms.
These sensitivity disorders affect the area supplied by the sciatic nerve, so the numbness occurs in the legs. The compression (pressure and constriction) of the sciatic nerve by the piriformis muscle can disrupt the pathways running through it. Thus, touching the legs can no longer be transmitted to the brain and numbness occurs.
The tingling sensation in the legs due to a piriformis syndrome is also caused by a constriction of the sciatic nerve. Due to the compression of the nerve by the piriformis muscle, information can no longer be transmitted correctly from the nerve to the brain. Instead, information about touch or temperature is sent incompletely to the brain. The brain now has to make do with a fraction of the actual information and therefore interprets false perceptions into this “information gap”.
