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March 26, 2005

Piriformis Syndrome Or Sciatica?

How do you tell the difference between sciatica and piriformis syndrome? Simply, sciatica will rarely be helped with massage therapy.

I had a client present with sciatic pain yesterday. They were full of questions about whether I could help them. And honestly, I didn't know if I could. I asked what their doctor said, but they had no definitive answers for them until they did an MRI on them.

I accepted them as a client, explaining that it would be uncomfortable work, and that there were no guarantees that what I had to offer would help them. We would work together and TRY to get them some improvement. They agreed saying that anything was better than surgery.

Gluteus maximus was very tender at the sacral attachments, as was piriformis muscle. Gluteus medius and gluteus minimus were extremely tender as well. Pressure on tensor fascia lata just about sent them off the table. The good news, none of this pain was electrical in nature. I did my best to stretch the fascia at key muscular attachments sites in hopes of taking pressure off the sciatic nerve.

Though the client still needed crutches to walk, they did admit there was some improvement after the session. I advised them about expected pain over the next couple of days saying that whatever pain medication they were currently taking for the condition would be in order. This process may be slow-going because of the amount of pain they are in. I see them again on Tuesday which is enough time for me to know if the work we did on Friday had any lasting improvement.

Posted by linda at March 26, 2005 11:57 AM