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A Pain in the Butt

Believe me, I know that at my age I am fortunate to be mostly healthy,  to have my real teeth and my real joints and very little pain associated with body parts in general.  I should be more grateful.  Instead, a little ache, a little pain, and I am off and ranting--cursing the gods who feel the need to punish me in this way.

I was sleeping peacefully on Saturday night when I was most rudely awakened  by sudden pain.  I was thought someone had broken into the house and was administering electrical shock to my left buttock. Zap! OW! Zap! OW! ZAP! OW!  And so it went throughout the night.  I was grumpy in the morning,  Very grumpy.

I have heard about sciatica nerve pain.  I googled it.  The pain was pretty targeted, not coming from my back, not shooting down the thigh.  But definitely there.

I was going to skip yoga, but yoga was mentioned as one of the treatments.  My yoga teacher mentioned periformis syndrome and gave me some modifications to the usual routine.  I felt a lot better afterwards.  I was really glad I didn't skip the class.


Inflammation of this muscle can irritate the sciatic nerve.  It is sometimes called pseudosciatica and sometimes referred to as wallet sciatica.  If I carried a wallet in my left back pocket, that would be a perfect description.

So today I took another bike ride and figured out what irritated that muscle in the first place.  Ice helps.

Comments

  1. SextantApril 22, 2015 at 10:15 PM

    Every now and again I get wakened with leg cramps that bring me out of a deep sleep instantly awake, it can feel like somebody slashing with a knife from the inside out. Fortunately they usually go away just standing on them, but the pain is amazing.

    Hope you are doing better now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sally WesselyApril 22, 2015 at 10:46 PM

    I suffer from pain in the area very frequently. It is especially painful at night. Not a lot can be done to treat my pain except shots. I've only gone that route once. In the meantime, I find yoga, pilates, and massage help me the most.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Linda ReederApril 22, 2015 at 10:55 PM

    I have physical therapy exercises to stretch the piriformis, but I never knew exactly what it was. Thanks, and I hope your pain in the butt subsides.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Linda MyersApril 23, 2015 at 12:42 AM

    Yep. Stretching works, and massage, and trying to be a good sport in my late middle age. That usually doesn't work.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TaborApril 23, 2015 at 8:49 AM

    I get very mild sciatica once every few months. I take an aspirin and it helps. I am lucky, and hope it does not get worse.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousApril 23, 2015 at 9:49 AM

    Gee, I hope you feel better.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Arkansas PattiApril 23, 2015 at 10:24 AM

    It is way more fun being a pain in the butt than having one. Been there and you are right. Exercise will get rid of it the quickest. Feel all better soon.

    ReplyDelete
  8. GwenApril 23, 2015 at 11:36 AM

    ouch! I hope it continues to get better.

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  9. MuffieApril 23, 2015 at 11:48 AM

    My husband is going through that right now. I'm hoping that PT will work for him. Feel better!

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  10. Lowcarb team memberApril 24, 2015 at 5:50 PM

    Oh that is not nice! Hope it gets better real soon ...

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownApril 24, 2015 at 9:35 PM

    OOPS! Well you said you weren't going to be riding for much longer anyway so at least the pain should be gone soon! I am glad Yoga helped and I sure hate that it is from your bike.

    ReplyDelete
  12. KayApril 24, 2015 at 10:19 PM

    I love learning from my blogger friends. Sadly, as we age these sudden annoying pains can come out of nowhere. I went to the doctor this week and when she asked if I was feeling any pain, I was so happy to say, "Not right this minute."

    ReplyDelete
  13. BarbApril 24, 2015 at 10:27 PM

    I've had this pain and it hurts! Year ago, when I ran daily, I strained the piriformis and could barely walk. I did this to myself twice and finally decided continual running wasn't so important anymore. I think at my age stretching before any exercise is important. Hope your butt soon feels better, Olga!

    ReplyDelete
  14. fiftyoddApril 27, 2015 at 6:56 AM

    Wow - that sciatic nerve looks huge, no wonder it gives us trouble. I shall take note of this post - hope it's unlikely to happen to me as I don't ride bikes. Big son does though.... I do hope you can avoid this in future.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jenn JilksMay 1, 2015 at 5:29 AM

    That's a toughie. Take care!

    ReplyDelete
  16. janziMay 22, 2015 at 2:32 PM

    that sciatic pain is a killer and I am happy that you are managing it with Yoga.. however for me that didnt work and I had an operation to release the three areas of pressure on my spine.. for most people it does work, but for me although the sciatic pain is a whole lot less, its quite mild when it rears its head.. the operation left me in a worse state.. but thats whole other story.. I am just glad that you can find relief through your Yoga, hope you heal quickly and it stops bothering you.. hugs from across the pond.. thank you for leaving a comment for me too... janzi

    ReplyDelete

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