WARNING ... Boring medical stuff about Piriformis Syndrome.
I always suspected I had Piriformis Syndrome but held off confirming it until I was on Medicare. I'm now on Medicare and I'm no longer paying $1,200 a month for shitty health insurance with a $7,000 deductible that forced me to think twice about seeing doctors.
Before dealing with the Piriformis I got my back repaired as to not confuse the symptoms of the Piriformis issue with the back issue The back surgery was done a back in February.
An ultrasound confirmed that my Piriformis is inflamed and there is also a layer of scar tissue on the Piriformis from my hip replacements in 2013. The stiff scar tissue is most likely binding up my Piriformis and not allowing it to smoothly move thus the inflammation. Along with always having some degree of discomfort and sometimes pain (if I twist my leg wrong) it also causes occasional foot numbness as the ultrasound showed the Sciatic nerve to be "entangled" in the mess that is my scarred Piriformis.
When I ride my scared Piriformis requires that I stretch every 10 to 15 miles during a ride as the Piriformis tightens up with use. I usually feel no pain from the Piriformis while riding but I do feel the onset of numb feet (my form of recumbent foot). The function of the Piriformis is the lateral rotation of the hip joint and other stability functions. Being clipped into pedals helps to stabilize the hip joint while riding. However once off the trike I generally feel some discomfort. Pain on occasion.
I'm moving forward with having the situation reviewed by a doctor to two. The expected game plan is for targeted physical therapy to soften the scar tissue and ease the fascia between muscles to get the area moving smoothly again to hopefully ease the problems associated with the Piriformis. The worse case option would be surgery, if even possible.
Such a little muscle but it can cause so much pain.
