Expert: Dr. Timothy K. Durnin - 7/3/2007

Question
I have had what my Dr. said was "the piriformis muscle irritaing the sciatic nerve." It affects my right leg with such pain. I went to therapy which hurt me worse, like bruising. During the day I seem to cope, with frequent sitting and resting, and relief of pain somewhat, but when I get in bed, after 10 minutes, the pain is so bad in that leg that I have to sleep sitting up in a chair, with my leg straight out on an ottoman. This has been going on, with no lessening of nigh pain, for about 2-3 months. No pain medications seem to relieve it. It's so dibilitating with no sleep per se, and the constant bad pain. Is there ANYTHING that can be done, or not done or what should I do. I'm so tired of no sleep, no being able to properly function. Thank You

Answer
Hi Lappy,

You have a condition that is easiest to treat, all the therapist has to do is PNF and Low Volt muscle Stim. I am not sure who you are seeing, but it's obvious they don't know what they're doing.
Find another doctor/therapist or health care provider. I recommend you see a D.C. that knows what PNF and Low Volt means and how to use them.
The only way is to call around and ask.
This condition is by far the easiest to cure, you should be relatively pain free in 2 days. If you have trouble finding a remotely competent provider, let me know and I will personally find you one.

PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation)

You may Google it. It is a type of active resistant exercises.

Dr. Timothy K. Durnin
drs.chiroweb.com

P.S. One more major issue, make sure you put an ice pack in a warm moist towel, this will feel good when you put it on your buttock, it will get cold real fast. Leave it on for 10-15 minutes every other hour when awake. This will help tremendously, also, don't put anything in your pants pocket on that side. The other name for this condition is "wallet syndrome" because chronic irritation from sitting on the wallet causes the piriformis to spasm.