PeteZa..............question for you

Tried your LivRelief pain cream yet? I read about it. Looks like a online thing only.

I see they have two types, for muscles and nerves.

Bummer, we both got it. Well Piriformis and everything else on my left hip is my enemy. I didnt get the full blown nerve pinching sciatica this time - very close though. I probably (like 10% of the pop) have the sciatic nerve going through the Periformis, you might too. So any extended uneven tension of the other leg muscles can temporarily put tension on the piriformis pinching the nerve. Exercising out of shape muscles to quick can do this. if one has this issue.

I've been unwinding my left side (hips/upper thigh and psoas) for a while now. So they were kind of unstable. Then I tried to jog a short distance a few weeks ago and I think thats what did it. It was too early to jog even one block. So now I cant bike either. Life is short, I hate going slow.

Active release practitioners are the best for hip tendon/muscle issues. They can at least release the adjacent muscles that are being inflamed from overworking from the injured piriformis. They will know what the issues are. Drs will not.

www.activerelease.com/find-a-provider.asp?strGeocode=%2843.8041334%2C+-120.55420119999997%29&strAddress=Oregon%2C+USA

Theres nothing hoky about it.

Your bike- As a long time bicyclist, I can tell you the right seat and its position for your riding style is everything! Skinny seats are for high ride height (legs less than 90 deg at top stroke), and wide soft comfy seats are for low height position (legs 90 deg).

The difference is the seat up high between your legs (road bike) vs sitting on top (comfy cruiser style). You jack up a wide seat high and it rubs all the inner muscles and tendons causing issues. You lower a skinny seat and your "sit" bones hurt. The seat angle is huge too. 1/4 in makes a difference.

I wonder if a 'tens' unit would help. I hear that they have gotten pretty inexpensive recently. Though You undoubtedly get what you pay for.

Petza- Five days in a row without knowing how you'ed recover....bummer.

In addition to getting your bike fitted -many bikes dont come with a quick release seat post clamp anymore. Get one if your bike doesnt have one. ($8).

Changing the seat height just 1/4 in up or down on longer rides WILL result in more comfort. Being stuck in one position is not good.

I tried Vicodin for a day 10 years ago with real bad sciatica (the knife in your pelvis kind). Wow was I spaced out and "fuzzy" doped out feeling all over. It literally floored me. Alcohol doesnt do much to me, something about that Vicodin did though. Never used it again.

I just seen a bunch of cheap TENS units at Walgreens. There tempting.

I did not like the Tens unit..but my issue at the time was nerve related..not a sore or strained muscle.
It really irritated the area.

We also bought a muscle stimulator...maybe I should try that again.

PeteZa - The TENS might provide you with pain relief - even tho it didn't work for me - my issue isn't the same.
My husband has gotten some pain relief with the TENS unit. But for him it wasn't long lasting.

Petza - Yes Active Release really works like nothing else. There is a reason top athletes today use this treatment. When used in combination with trigger point release (which anyone with patients can learn) it really speeds up recovery. If you let an injury naturally recover , it seldom is a "clean" recovery and you are left with scar tissue and trigger points- unknowingly. So pay attention as to what they do so you can possibly replicate some of it over time. A more experience ART practitioner, the better the results. Some "newbies" dont use enough pressure. A stronger ART person, also the better. They need hand and arm strength to do this right.

I had active release twice last week, did some of my own and light trigger point release yesterday, and getting out of bed was not finally not painful.

If everyone with "fibromyalgia" did these two things, their pain would be reduced a lot.

Im sitting on a thin pillow on my chair to be kind to my piriformis right now LOL. If you lack "but padding" (me) compressing the piriforis on the sciatic nerve from a hard chair makes getting up painfull while its still inflamed.

The guy who invented it was an engineer in the 80's turned chiropractor- so he could use it on people. So he did his own case studies for developing his training program. Genius.

PZ,

That sounds terrible! I am so sorry you ended up in so much pain. I know how badly you wanted to get on the bike and ride!

Tell Hubby to "rub your butt" dang it! Lol! He owes you that after riding with him for so many miles. Its only fair, right? (My hubby gets that sciatica pain. That is a really hard area to rub. The muscle goes so deep. Thats probably why he is balking!)