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If you think you may have Piriformis syndrome, you may have some of the following symptoms:
Pain in the buttocks or surrounding areas.
Chronic pain, this is pain that has been slow to build and is long lasting.
Numbness and tingling (pins and needles) in the buttock.
Pain and numbness that radiates into the lower back, buttocks, back of the calves, and back of your thighs. This pain would worsen if you were to run, sit, climb stairs or rotate your leg internally.
You may have pain when you have a bowel movement.
You may have pain in the groin area making it uncomfortable to sit for long periods of time.
Since the Piriformis muscle is pressing on the sciatic nerve it is also likely for you to have sciatic like symptoms as well.
Symptoms of sciatica are:
- Sharp, burning or extreme pain in the lower back (lumbar) that may radiate down into your buttocks and legs
- You may feel a burning sensation down one or both of your legs
- You may also have weakness, numbness or tingling in one or both of your legs
- Pain that increases in severity if you where to walk, stand or bend forward at the waist
- You may notice a decrease in your leg reflexes
- You may have tingling or numbness in your feet or toes
You may lose control of your bladder or bowel. If you have this symptom it is very important that you seek immediate medical treatment. This is a very serious condition known as Cauda Equina Syndrome and there is only a small window of time for doctors to repair the damage before it may become permanent.
When diagnosing Piriformis syndrome it is primarily on the basis of what symptoms you present with and a full physical examination. While there is no test that can be done to accurately confirm the diagnosis due to the location of your Piriformis muscle, there are various other tests that can be used to rule out other conditions or disease.
The diagnostic tests that can be used to rule out other conditions or diseases are any of the following:
MRI’s – This test makes use of a powerful magnet and radio waves to create highly detailed images of the organs and soft tissues in our back.
CT Scans – This test uses x-ray technology and computers to create 2-dimensional images of your spine. Unlike a normal x-ray that only takes a picture of one area of the body; with a CT scan, the machine would rotate around you taking pictures of the body from different angles.
X-ray – While there are many things that an X-ray cannot detect it can show damage to the bones as well as bone spurs.
Myelogram – Very similar to an X-ray, but before this test, a dye would be injected into your spinal fluid and then X-rays would be taken. This test can show pressure on your spinal cords or nerves due to disc problems.
Article by: Steve
Steve currently works for Health Magaz. It is an online source of Information on the latest diagnostic, uti symptoms men and treatment techniques plus the latest health information and news.
