The piriformis is a muscle deep in your buttocks. Piriformis syndrome is a condition that occurs when spasms develop in the muscle and cause you pain.

Piriformis syndrome may develop from:

• Overuse injury
• Spasms due to muscle irritation
• Tightening or swelling due to injury or spasm
• Bleeding in the area of the muscle

A muscle spasm in your buttocks would be painful enough, but another problem arises because the sciatic nerve runs right beneath the piriformis muscle.

When the muscle becomes swollen or cramped, it puts pressure on the nerve. As a result, you develop symptoms that are commonly known as sciatica.

The sciatic nerves leave the spine, run through each buttock and travel down both legs. When the nerve is pinched or damaged, symptoms can develop anywhere along the spine.

Piriformis syndrome symptoms may include:

• Pain when sitting
• Ache in the buttock
• Lower back pain
• Pain down the back of your thigh and calf and possibly into your foot
• Numbness and tingling along your leg and foot
• Muscle weakness in the affected leg
• Reduced movement in the hip joint

Your pain may range from mild to severe or debilitating. Piriformis syndrome pain also typically worsens when you’re active.

Your treatment is customized to meet the severity of your pain and immobility. Treatment for piriformis syndrome often combines several therapies at one time to achieve optimal pain relief.

Muscle stretching exercises are especially important, but you may also benefit from massage and heat therapy.

As a specialist in interventional pain management, Dr. Slavin offers targeted treatments that go directly to the source of your pain. When you have piriformis syndrome, Dr. Slavin may recommend a muscle injection.

Piriformis muscle injections contain an anesthetic to immediately relieve pain and a steroid to reduce inflammation and relax the muscle.

Using ultrasound to visualize the muscle and guide the needle, Dr. Slavin can precisely inject the medication at the site of the problem. You’ll have a quick recovery and rapid relief from pain.