Piriformis syndrome also called as Sciatica is a neuromuscular disorder that occurs when the muscles of piriformis exerts pressure on the sciatic nerve. Piriformis muscle is a bundle of flat muscle found in the buttocks which manages the muscular movement of the lower body. It is the muscles that are responsible for walking with balanced movement. This disorder occurs in one side of the body causing inflammation and numbness on the affected leg. Conservative treatment is enough for controlling mild to moderate pain and surgery is done only for severe case of the syndrome.
Symptoms :
The initial symptoms of piriformis syndrome are pain and tingling feeling in the buttocks. Sometimes the pain can become serious to extend all through the length of sciatic nerve. For some people there can be numbness for short period on the buttocks area. Pain is felt during actions of sitting, running and climbing staircase. Pain usually begins from the lower spine and proceeds till the buttock and goes beyond till the end of your legs. There will be low back pain in the buttocks and back side of the thigh muscle most of the time.
Pain will range from mild type to sharp burning pain causing great discomfort. For some people it can be felt as an electric shock. The pain increases when you sneeze or cough. Lumbar spine has two nerve roots in it called L4 and L5 and set of three nerve endings (S1-S3) which bind together to constitute sciatic nerve. When the L4 nerve root ending gets affected it causes pain on the thigh and jerk in the knee. If the L5 nerve root gets affected it causes intense pain or numbness on the top surface of the foot, and also on the region between the big toe and second toe.
When to Consult a Doctor?
You can wait for some days to verify if the mild pain subsides on its own. You need to consult your GP if you have sudden sharp pain on the lower back and legs area with numbness or tingling sensation. For some people controlling bowel movements become a problem very often during this condition.
Causes :
Piriformis syndrome occurs due to the pressure exerted by the piriformis muscle on the sciatic nerve. Sometimes the sciatic nerve gets pinched because of development of tumor or due to chronic diabetes. There are six back problems that frequently cause this syndrome.
- Lumbar herniated disc develops when the soft tissue of the inner disc protrudes out to irritate the nerve root.
- Degenerative disc disease occurs due to old age. It is the condition when the nerve root extends to cause irritation of the sciatic nerve.
- It can also be caused due to isthmic spondylolisthesis which occurs due to stress fracture that pinches the sciatica nerve endings.
- Lumbar spinal stenosis is a condition occurs due to aging process when the spinal canal gets narrowed.
- Piriformis syndrome also develops if the piriformis muscle pinches the nerve root of the sciatic nerve.
- Finally when the sacroiliac joint gets irritated for some reasons, it can affect the L5 nerve causing leg pain.
- Sciatic pain can occur due to muscle strain, scar tissue and spinal tumor and also due to serious infection on the lower back.
Who are at risk?