What causes buttock pain when sitting. How to diagnose piriformis syndrome. What are effective treatments for sciatic nerve compression. How to prevent discomfort from prolonged sitting. When should you see a doctor for buttock pain.

What is Piriformis Syndrome and How Does it Cause Buttock Pain?

Piriformis syndrome is a neuromuscular disorder characterized by compression of the sciatic nerve. This condition often manifests as pain in the buttocks, particularly when sitting for extended periods. But what exactly causes this discomfort?

The piriformis muscle, located near the top of the hip joint in the buttocks, plays a crucial role in lower body movement and hip joint stabilization. The sciatic nerve, which runs through this muscle and down the back of the legs, can become compressed when the piriformis muscle spasms or tightens. This compression leads to the hallmark symptoms of piriformis syndrome.

Common Causes of Piriformis Syndrome

• Prolonged sitting, especially with poor posture
• Vigorous physical activities like running or climbing stairs
• Direct pressure on the piriformis muscle
• Trauma to the buttock area

Understanding the underlying causes can help in both prevention and treatment of this uncomfortable condition.

Recognizing the Symptoms: When Sitting Becomes Painful

How can you tell if your buttock pain is due to piriformis syndrome? The symptoms can vary, but there are several key indicators to watch for:

• Sharp, severe, or radiating pain from the lower back down the legs
• Difficulty sitting or putting weight on one buttock
• Muscle spasms in the piriformis muscle
• Pain during hip movement or rotation
• Discomfort during a rectal exam (due to pressure on the piriformis muscle)

If you experience these symptoms, particularly if they persist or worsen over time, it may be time to consult a healthcare professional.

Diagnosing Piriformis Syndrome: What to Expect

Diagnosing piriformis syndrome can be challenging, as its symptoms often mimic other conditions. What steps do healthcare providers typically take to identify this disorder?

1. Medical history review: Your doctor will inquire about any trauma to the area, regular physical activities, and sitting habits.
2. Physical examination: This may include assessing pain levels during specific movements or applying pressure to certain areas.
3. Imaging tests: In some cases, an MRI or other radiologic tests may be ordered to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms, such as hip bursitis or disc herniation.

It’s important to provide your healthcare provider with as much detailed information as possible to ensure an accurate diagnosis.

Effective Treatment Options for Piriformis Syndrome

Once diagnosed, what treatment options are available for piriformis syndrome? The approach often involves a combination of therapies tailored to the individual’s needs:

Conservative Treatments

• Physical therapy and stretching exercises
• Pain relievers and muscle relaxants
• Heat application
• Gait adjustments
• Strengthening exercises for hip abductors

Advanced Interventions

• Anesthetic injections
• Acupuncture
• Surgery (in severe cases)

The goal of treatment is not only to alleviate current pain but also to prevent future occurrences by addressing the root cause of the condition.

Preventing Piriformis Syndrome: Proactive Measures

While there’s no foolproof way to prevent piriformis syndrome, several strategies can help reduce your risk:

• Regular stretching and exercise routines
• Maintaining good posture, especially when sitting for long periods
• Taking frequent breaks from sitting
• Avoiding carrying wallets in back pockets
• Addressing contributing conditions like spinal arthritis or foot problems

Implementing these preventive measures can significantly decrease your chances of developing piriformis syndrome or experiencing recurrent symptoms.

Beyond Piriformis Syndrome: Other Causes of Sitting Discomfort

While piriformis syndrome is a common cause of buttock pain when sitting, it’s not the only culprit. What other conditions might be causing your discomfort?

Poor Posture

Improper sitting posture can lead to misalignment of the spine and subsequent pain. Maintaining a natural position with the pelvis balanced beneath the spine and using lumbar support can help alleviate this issue.

Herniated Disc

A herniated disc in the lower back can cause pressure on the sciatic nerve, resulting in pain similar to piriformis syndrome. This condition often requires medical intervention for proper diagnosis and treatment.

Sciatica

Sciatica, characterized by pain radiating along the sciatic nerve, can make sitting uncomfortable. It may be caused by various factors, including spinal stenosis or bone spurs.

Tailbone Injuries

Trauma to the coccyx (tailbone) can result in pain when sitting. This condition, known as coccydynia, may require specialized cushions or physical therapy for relief.

Bursitis

Inflammation of the bursa sacs in the hip area can cause pain when sitting. Treatment typically involves rest, anti-inflammatory medications, and physical therapy.

When to Seek Professional Help for Buttock Pain

At what point should you consult a healthcare provider about your buttock pain? Consider seeking medical attention if:

• Pain persists for more than a few weeks
• Discomfort significantly impairs your daily activities
• You experience numbness, tingling, or weakness in your legs
• Pain is accompanied by fever or unexplained weight loss
• You’ve recently experienced trauma to the area

Early intervention can prevent the condition from worsening and lead to more effective treatment outcomes.

Lifestyle Adjustments for Managing Buttock Pain

In addition to medical treatments, what lifestyle changes can help manage buttock pain and prevent future occurrences?

Ergonomic Workspace Setup

Invest in an ergonomic chair and ensure your workspace is set up to promote good posture. This includes positioning your computer screen at eye level and keeping your feet flat on the floor while sitting.

Regular Exercise Routine

Incorporating low-impact exercises like swimming, cycling, or yoga can help strengthen the muscles supporting your back and hips, potentially reducing pain.

Stress Management

Chronic stress can lead to muscle tension, exacerbating buttock pain. Practicing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, or progressive muscle relaxation may provide relief.

Dietary Considerations

Maintaining a healthy weight and consuming an anti-inflammatory diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and omega-3 fatty acids may help reduce overall inflammation and pain.

Sleep Posture

Pay attention to your sleeping position. Using a pillow between your knees when sleeping on your side or under your knees when on your back can help maintain proper spinal alignment.

By implementing these lifestyle adjustments alongside appropriate medical treatment, you can significantly improve your comfort and quality of life when dealing with buttock pain.

Buttock Pain When Sitting: Piriformis Syndrome

• Spine

10/22/2019

If you’ve ever been on a long car ride, then you know that sitting for hours at a time can be a pain in the buttocks – literally. That’s because sitting for long periods of time can compress the sciatic nerve and cause what is known as piriformis syndrome. Long car rides aren’t the only cause of sciatic nerve compression. What causes it? And, how can you treat piriformis syndrome?

What is piriformis syndrome?

Piriformis syndrome is a neuromuscular disorder that is caused when the sciatic nerve is compressed. The piriformis muscle is found in the buttock near the top of the hip joint. That muscle helps lower body movement and stabilizes the hip joint. The sciatic nerve goes through the piriformis muscle and down the back of the legs.

When you sit for long periods of time, especially with poor posture, you end up compressing that sciatic nerve. This can cause spasms in the piriformis muscle and creates a feeling of being sore or achy. Compressing the sciatic nerve can also be done while running, climbing stairs, or applying firm pressure onto the piriformis muscle.

Piriformis Syndrome Symptoms

Since piriformis syndrome involves a nerve, the most telling sign includes sharp, severe, or radiating pain. This occurs from the lower back down the legs and into the thighs, calves, or feet. Along with pain, you may also experience:

• Difficulty sitting or putting weight on one cheek
• Muscle spasms of the piriformis muscle
• Pain in the piriformis muscle during a rectal exam
• Sciatica-type pain when the hip is moved or rotated

Diagnosing Piriformis Syndrome

While there is no easy way to tell if someone is experiencing piriformis syndrome, an orthopedic specialist will ask you questions about your history, such as the following:

• If you’ve had any trauma to the area
• Regularly experience vigorous activity like long-distance running
• If you sit for long periods of time

Based on your symptoms and a physical exam, your doctor may also suggest a radiologic test or MRI to rule out other conditions that have similar symptoms – including hip bursitis and disc herniation.

Preventing Piriformis Syndrome

There is no reliable way to prevent piriformis syndrome, but there are precautions you can take to reduce your risk. If you often sit for long periods of time or are prone to back problems, you should:

• Stretch and perform home exercises
• Avoid carrying a wallet in your back pocket
• Take frequent breaks from sitting
• Treat contributing conditions like spinal arthritis or foot problems

How to Relieve Buttock Pain From Sitting

While symptoms of piriformis syndrome can be relieved with medications like pain relievers and muscle relaxants, the best way to treat piriformis is to see a doctor or orthopedic specialist. They’ll suggest physical therapy, exercises, and stretching to help alleviate pain and prevent future incidents. Other treatments may include:

• Gait adjustments
• Improved mobility of sacroiliac joints
• Stretching piriformis and hip muscles
• Strengthening hip abductors
• Heat application
• Acupuncture
• Anesthetic injections
• Surgery

Request an Appointment at The Orthopedic Clinic Today

At The Orthopedic Clinic, we want you to live your life in full motion. If buttock pain is making life uncomfortable, let us help you. We’ll tailor a treatment plan that’s best for your lifestyle and get you back to doing the things you love.

Call us at (386) 255-4596 to schedule an appointment.

5 Things That Can Cause Discomfort When Sitting

When getting off your feet hurts more than standing, look to these common causes—and ways to find relief.

Sitting is supposed to bring relief after time on your feet, but certain conditions can make it feel just as uncomfortable as standing. Switching to a standing workstation is one thing, but last we heard, no one was making standing cars. To help you take a seat without wincing, we consulted the experts for common reasons it might hurt to sit down, as well as the solutions for these varied conditions. As always, if you’re still unsure, visit your doctor to get down to the, well, bottom of things.

The Problem: Poor Posture

Let’s start with the easy one. When you sit in a way that throws the natural s-curve of your spine out of alignment, it can easily lead to back pain, says Dr. Kaliq Chang, a pain management specialist at the Atlantic Spine Center in West Orange, NJ. “We all know what bad posture is when sitting,” he says. “Your pelvis is rolled forward, back is slouched—and it misaligns your lower back.” Take a look at yourself right now: are you slumping?

The Fix:

“Sit in the most natural position, where the pelvis is balanced underneath the spine,” Dr. Chang advises. Additionally, he notes, “Lumbar support can help roll the lower back, and keep it from pushing backwards into slouch.” Be mindful of how you’re sitting too, and try some of these simple habits to improve your posture.

The Problem: Hemorrhoids

Yes, it’s much less embarrassing to talk about the lower back than it is to discuss hemorrhoids, but the fact is, about 50 percent of Americans develop hemorrhoids by age 50 (and others of us get them later in life), according to the National Institutes of Health. Hemorrhoids are “simple swollen veins in the rectal area,” explains Dr. Roshini Rajapaksa, a gastroenterologist and clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Health. “The good news is, the veins never become dangerous or cancerous, but they can be annoying and painful.” She explains that there are many reasons people get hemorrhoids—including straining from constipation, frequent cycling (so much time in that seat!), and pregnancy, for starters—but it all boils down to one thing: “Anything that puts pressure on those veins can cause them to swell,” Dr. Rajapaksa says.

The Fix:

Preventing constipation is mainstay treatment, Dr. Rajapaksa says (since that will reduce straining and pressure). She suggests upping your fiber intake (through diet or supplements) and drinking more water to keep your digestive system running smoothly. There are also OTC products that can soothe and temporarily shrink hemorrhoids. Consider treating with a cream like Preparation H, which can relieve symptoms like pain, burning, and itching, as well as help shrink and protect irritated tissue.

The Problem: Staring at a Computer Screen All Day

It’s not so much the staring itself as the position of the screen and the keyboard relative to your head, neck, and arms, Dr. Chang says. “If you’re looking down or pushing your head forward and down,” he says, “It creates an unnatural position that can stress the discs in neck.”

The Fix:

“The Ideal height is one where when you are looking at monitor, your shoulders aren’t hunched forward, [and you’re] not stooping your neck forward to look at screen,” Dr. Chang says. Keep shoulders back and elbows on the table so that you’re not reaching up or bending down to reach the keyboard. And whenever you’re sitting, he says, “It’s best to get up at least every half hour and walk around for a few minutes.” (This is good for your eyes, too.) Try setting an alarm on your computer or phone to remind you to get up.

The Problem: an Abscess

It’s possible to get a pimple-like abscess from shaving, waxing, or even exercising, says Dr. Tsippora Shainhouse of the Dermatology Institute and Skin Care Center in Los Angeles. All of those activities create friction and irritation of the many hair follicles down below, and can lead to pain when sitting. “When inflammation happens from those things, you can develop a cyst,” Dr. Shainhouse says.

The Fix:

You’ll need a doctor’s appointment to treat this one. “Depending on where it is and how big it is, your doctor can lance it, or prescribe cortisone and/or an antibiotic,” Dr. Shainhouse says.

The Problem: Bruised Tailbone

The coccyx—that vulnerable bone at the base of your spine, just above your buttocks—doesn’t just bruise itself. “We don’t see it spontaneously,” Dr. Chang says. “It’s usually because someone fell on their butt.” When you bruise it, you’ll know it, he says, because you will be very sore. “Any sitting would hurt.”

The Fix:

“Buying a donut seat is usually the way to go,” Dr. Chang says. The shape of the donut seat will keep your body weight off your tailbone when you’re seated. And if you want to decorate yours to literally look like a donut, we think that’s a great idea.

© Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

Pain in the coccyx when sitting – why does it occur, what happens and how to eliminate it?

Tailbone pain
Sitting

Thus,
most of the time we are in a static posture. However, evolutionarily
our body is designed to move and the less it becomes in our
life, the more imbalances are formed in the musculoskeletal system. IN
As a result, this leads to the development of pain syndrome.

Tailbone pain when sitting is a common complaint. Three times more often
such a problem occurs in women, as a rule, after a complex
delivery. And, of course, brings to life, suffering from it, significant
discomfort, sharply reducing its quality.

Reasons

Pain in the coccyx when sitting can have a number of causes:
active sports, accidents, falls on the buttocks, etc.;

Reflected pain in diseases of the internal organs.

Diagnosis and treatment

Pain in the coccyx when sitting is a non-specific symptom that requires
conducting a thorough examination. For this, in the clinic of Professor
Bugrovetskaya carried out functional diagnostics, including
stabilometry, manual muscle testing, morphometry, etc.
based on the patient’s complaints and the data collected as a result of the examination, the doctor
diagnoses and prescribes appropriate treatment.

The use of painkillers gives only a temporary effect, not
eliminating the causes that caused pain in the coccyx when sitting. Usage
non-drug methods in the treatment of such a symptom gives a quick and
sustained improvement in patient well-being. For this purpose, the clinic
such methods of influence are used as: manual therapy, reflexology, hirudotherapy, exercise therapy, therapeutic stretching exercises, etc.
A holistic approach to the treatment of pain syndromes when the patient’s body
considered as a whole, in which each element can influence
well-being, allows you to eliminate the true cause of pain and reduce the risk
relapses to a minimum.

We practice a comprehensive approach to effectively treat patients with dental, neurological, movement and other problems.

Do not put off a visit to the doctor if you have complaints! –
Treatment in our clinic is as comfortable and fast as possible.

Neurology

Manual therapy

Hirudotherapy

Reflexology

Dentistry

Exercise therapy

Acupuncture

Functional diagnostics

Speech therapy

Immunodietology

Desired date:

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Coccygodynia (pain in the coccyx). Treatment of coccygodynia

Coccygodynia is called pain in the coccyx – this is a rather rare and not entirely understood pain syndrome, which manifests itself as constant pain in the lowest part of the spine. The pain is usually clearly localized and worsens when sitting or when the lower spine is loaded. This syndrome is much more common in women than in men. As a rule, the cause is an injury (fall) or childbirth. Rarely, infections or tumors can be the cause. The term coccygodynia has a long history of being a poorly understood syndrome. At the beginning of the 20th century, this diagnosis was very popular and meant all pain syndromes in the lumbosacral spine. And, alas, surgical methods of treatment (removal of the coccyx – coccygectomy) were quite often used to treat pain syndromes in the lumbosacral region.

The results of surgical treatment varied. Then the pendulum of medical opinion swung the other way and, as was mainly observed in women, it began to be considered a neurosis. Due to the fact that often the operation did not give an effect, it was decided that the pain was psychogenic in nature and, for a long period of time, the operations were stopped. Currently, these two extreme views do not exist in the medical community. It is generally accepted that coccygodynia exists as a real syndrome.

The coccyx is the lowest part of the spine. It is a rudimentary tail and consists of 3-5 small bones. In fact, these are underdeveloped vertebrae connected to each other. Initially, it was assumed that the components of the coccyx were completely fused and lacked any mobility in relation to each other. It turned out that the coccyx is not a single whole bone formation and there is a very small amplitude of movements between the components due to fibrous connections and ligaments. The coccyx is connected to the sacrum by a rudimentary disc and ligaments. There is also a limited range of motion between the sacrum and coccyx. More frequent occurrence of coccygodenia in women is explained by several factors: a large rotation of the pelvis and a wider pelvis, which increases the risk of injury to the coccyx.

Symptoms of coccygodynia

Symptoms depend on the real causes of pain in the coccyx. The following features are most characteristic of coccygodynia:

• increased pain when sitting, local pain in the coccyx area,
• Increased pain when moving from sitting to standing,
• Increased pain in constipation and relief after defecation.

Causes of coccygodynia

It is still not clear which anatomical part is responsible for the appearance of pain. In many cases, the cause of the pain cannot be identified (idiopathic coccygodynia). Basically, the pain can be caused by trauma or excessive stress on the area, which causes slight displacement of the coccyx bones, resulting in inflammation and pain.
Main possible causes of coccygodynia:

• Local injury. A fall on the coccyx can cause injury to the ligaments of the coccyx itself or the area of ​​connection with the sacrum. This is the most common cause of coccygodenia.
• Childbirth. During childbirth, the baby’s head, leaving the pelvis, puts pressure on the coccyx and injures the ligaments and sometimes leads to fractures of the coccyx.
• Overpressure. Certain activities that involve prolonged pressure on the coccyx, such as riding a horse or sitting on a hard surface for long periods of time, can lead to coccyx pain. In such cases, the pain is usually intermittent. But, if the factors of influence persist and are not treated, then the pain can become chronic.
• Tumor or infection. Rarely, tailbone pain can be caused by infections or tumors in the tailbone that press on the tailbone and cause pain.

Diagnosis of coccygodynia

Diagnosis of coccygodynia is based on the history and physical examination. Instrumental methods of examination are used in cases where it is necessary to exclude other possible causes of pain.

Physical examination. A rectal and vaginal examination is performed in order to palpate the possible presence of a tumor that may be causing pain. In addition, palpation is necessary for the presence of local soreness of the coccyx. The absence of pain when pressing the coccyx indicates that the pain has a different genesis (herniated disc of the lumbosacral disc or osteochondrosis). Of the instrumental research methods, radiography is used (radiography of the coccyx and sacrum allows you to see the presence of fractures or large tumors) and MRI (allows you to diagnose infections and tumors). As a rule, CT and scintigraphy are not used, due to the lack of information in this syndrome.

Treatment of coccygodynia

Treatment of coccygodynia is usually conservative and mostly local.

Medical treatment. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and COX-2 inhibitors are often prescribed. These medications help reduce inflammation in the coccyx area and thus reduce pain. In the presence of constipation, laxatives are prescribed.

The use of special cushions in the form of a ring or other shape in order to prevent contact of the coccyx with the surface when sitting.

Physiotherapy. Ultrasound, electrophoresis and other procedures help to reduce the inflammatory process.

Blockades. Local injection of an anesthetic causes anesthesia of the coccyx area, and a combination with a steroid (dexazone) relieves inflammation. The effect usually lasts from 1 to 3 weeks. It is recommended to do no more than three blockades per year.