What is piriformis syndrome in running?
Piriformis syndrome is a very common complaint with runners. The piriformis is one of the small muscles deep in the buttocks that rotates the leg outwards. It runs from the base of the spine and attaches to the thigh bone (femur) roughly where the crease in your bottom ends. The sciatic nerve runs very close to this muscle and sometimes (in about 15% of people) it runs through the muscle. If the muscle becomes tight it can put pressure on the sciatic nerve and cause pain in the buttock, which can radiate down the leg. What can cause the piriformis to strain or tighten up during running? Overuse, an uneven running gait, or even problems in the lower spine can cause problems. A common cause though is a tight adductor muscle with an abductor muscle (on the outside of the hip) not working properly. The end result is the piriformis acting as an abductor (lifting the leg to the side) and making it work harder than it would normally and so becoming strained and tightening up. What can you do
