Piriformis Syndrome

Welcome back to the wonderful world of medicine.  It's awesome to be back with all of you so soon.

Allow me to recap where we are for today's episode.
Two years ago I was Dx'd with a minor hamstring tear. 
New MRI last week shows no such tear.  Looking at the old MRI's, we're not sure there ever was a tear.  It's pretty doubtful.

That basically means all the pain I've been dealing with is undiagnosed.  It took me 6 MD's to get to that point.  Awesome.

So I saw a new doctor last week, after having that MRI taken.  We talked about things for a bit and based on my symptoms she thinks it is Piriformis syndrome.  For those of you that did play guess my Diagnosis...Mark was the winner.  Although its hardly fair as he is also my PT.  His big prize is getting me as a client...again.  Congratulations!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piriformis_syndrome

So first let me say, anytime you see the word "syndrome" in a diagnosis...it means they don't know what the hell the real problem is.  Just sayin...

Having said that, this at least gives me a plan of attack. 

Today I went in for a corticosteroid injection right into the piriformis muscle.  (Not to be confused with the performance muscle.  Those are two completely different things!!)  It was actually more unpleasant than I expected.  Having crohns disease I lost any semblance of pride long ago.  But as I was lying on the table with my left cheek hanging out, one of the fellow's comes in and starts talking about getting pictures.  Being an immature idiot I get a little laugh going.  The doctor doesn't get it because clearly this fine medical professional is talking about ultrasound pictures as that is what they are using to guide the needle that is in my rear.

Of course this laugh causes movement.  Do you think it is a good idea to move when there is someone holding a needle in your body?  No, of course not.  I don't think I need to explain why I chose this movie clip.....

Anyway...as I sit here writing this, the pain killer they also injected has worn off.  I am quickly discovering that jabbing a specific muscl (repeatedly) with a needle actually hurts.  On the bright side, if the location of the pain is any indication, this is the problem I have been having.  I am currently sore in exactly the location I've been hurting in all this time, and the pain is shooting down my leg in the same way it did while working out. 

I have to take the next 5 days off.  And I mean completely off.  The doctor was very explicit and left me with no wiggle room.  Apparently the injection makes me more susceptible to tears.  Wouldn't that just be ironic as hell?  After the last couple years of thinking I had a hamstring tear that I was rehabbing, I finally find out it is piriformis syndrom.  I get it treated and that treatment actually causes a tear of some kind.  The more I think about it, that sounds exactly like me.  I should probably get some crutches just to be safe.

Anyway, nothing for 5 days and then I start rehab.  At this point I do not know what the rehab will consist of, what kind of biking and running I can do, or anything else for that matter.  Hopefully I'll know more in a few days.

The good news is that I'll likely be racing this season.  And I don't think my bike fit has to change dramatically.  So hopefully I can get back a lot of the gains I made and stay strong for the season.  And no quad cramping would be fantastic as well.  I'm not sure what will happen to my race schedule at this point.