Your Sciatica-is it from Piriformis Syndrome or a Herniated Disc? How to Tell.

Famous Physical Therapists Bob Schrupp and Brad Heineck provide you with tests you can do yourself to help determine if your sciatica (sciatic pain) is coming fro ma herniated disc or from piriformis syndrome. Videos at the end link to treatments for both sciatica and piriformis syndrome.

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Pain Management:

[cricketcricket]

Love you guys! I retired 3 years ago and decided I was going to FINALLY change the way my body looked. I've always been active, gym rat (when I could due to work) strenuous job, and just living life. Anyway, I got hooked on these fitness models training regimens and was doing pretty good. What I stupidly ignored was that they are mostly 20 to 30 years old. I'm 64. I realized after 4 years of this that you start changing the way your body "operates" (mechanics) and moves for decades, and you change things too quickly (actually was in my 3rd year of this when covid hit). Then you are opening a whole new world of hurt. Not muscular but deeper than that. Now I have had to have a total knee replacement, not too awfully bad but now I'm experiencing sciatica symptoms, which I didn't have before. I'm 5 weeks out and I'm praying this nerve will heal. Anyway, I know this is a long post but the bottom line is this, I couldn't do a split at 16 why in the hell did I think I could train my muscles to do a split at 60? Sometimes your body is what it is you can change it to a degree but just be careful of all the other mechanics and mobility issues of your body. If you change one thing it could lead to something else being off-kilter and causing another whole set of problems and pain. When I'm healed and return to the gym, it will be for my health, not trying to achieve a specific "look"!

[dougpeters]

These guys are great. We appreciate you.
Sciatica is some of the most horrific pain I've ever encountered in my life.

[nas]

I had similar symptoms to Piriformis syndrome after physical therapy which it didnt work they discovered i have a tumor on my spinal cord about 2.5 cm by 2 cm which was pressing on my nerves. However i decided to remove it and the pain is gone.. I shared this because maybe someone might find this helpful

[sklikizos]

Thanks to this and your Piriformis videos, I feel I finally unlocked the issues I've been dealing with. That said, these test cover most cases, but here's a doozy: Nearly five years ago I had what I believe was the onset of Piriformis syndrome - had it persisted alone it probably would've been diagnosed properly. But I then I had a severe injury resulting in herniated discs at L4/L5 and L5/S1. Due to a number of factors, the medical system overlooked underlying issues and put me through 8 months of PT that didn't even come close to correcting either of the problems and in fact made them worse. I've learned two overarching principles through this process: 1) while a few tests are good, more tests are better and will give a better holistic view of a patient's wellness. 2) If there's dysfunction, it's almost never caused by just one muscle/group. I now insist that anyone new who treats me for theses conditions puts me through a full range of motion/pain tests before working with me. Muscle patterns can change drastically even in a short amount of time and it's important for medical professionals to be diligent when eliminating causes of pain - it's impossible for the patient to tell you something they don't realize is going on.

[ashleylitebrite]

For those who have herniated discs or have had them in the past, your video isn't confusing at all. Completely relatable.

[rodevans]

These guys are awesome. I had spine surgery in 2011. 2 microdiscectomy on my home 4 L5 and laminectomies California 5 L5 s1. Five years after my surgery aches and pains. Freaked me out!! Then I came across these videos put my mind at ease. I still get an MRI to make sure which came up negative. 6 weeks later I recovered fully without any pain with a little physical therapy. These guys are accurate and spot on. Thanks Bob and Brad

[TK.]

Great and informative! I'm going to try these to see if I can tell which I have. The pain is horrible.

[BluesDoctor]

Six year old video and today I finally understand my sciatica pain. I suspected it was sciatica because it caused pain shooting down my leg. Now I at least have a shot at making it better and less painful. Thank-you guys for posting this video. All the docs wanted to refer me to ortho-surgeons and that was an abysmal failure. There was nothing wrong with my spine or disks, yet they all insisted they had a surgery would make the pain go away. It is unbelievable that not one single doc suggested it could be a piriformis issue. Thank-you, there is no telling how many surgeries I could have endured to end this excruciating pain.

[takatsu]

I'm a runner and I had piriformis syndrome. I had a heavy strain or partial tear of the performer. The warning sign in advance of problems was a warming and irritation of the muscle when I pushed hard. PT really helped. This video is right on.

[stevegee]

Your advice is better than the British NHS Physio Department

[Natural_zonk]

Cheered me up at in a moment of desperation, thank you.

[matthewgautier]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Just an FYI for those in pain I could hardly sit at all and then I let a little air out of my workout ball and used it to sit on. SO MUCH BETTER! Thanks again now I can actually treat my problem and not just cope.

[pamslove]

In case anyone else thinks they may have this, one of my main symptoms started out as numbness in lower calf, then started to progress to pins and needles in lower leg upon getting up and walking. Sensations would go away after walking a bit. Doing exercises to strengthen the entire booty is helping resolve the issue. Also correcting sitting/slouching habits.

[scizessita]

"It sends 'em through the roof. They're not happy with that at all." BRAVO! I was only able to describe this sensation through the use of a very great deal of profanity.

[nitab]

You guys are great. I'm waiting to be approved for back surgery. I can live with my bulging discs but the central disc protrusion at my L5-S1 is litterally making me lose my mind. When I ride in a car and get out, it seems like my piriformis muscle cramps up onto my sciatic nerve until it decides to release. It is excruciating and causes me not to be able to walk for a sec. The sciatic nerve pain is beyond words. There aren't enough adjectives to describe HELL. Lol. Thank you for your helpful videos. I don't feel so alone living with this pain.

[RM]

Just went through this exact same dilemma. I assumed it was a disc issue but after doing lots of research online, I suspected it was piriformis syndrome. I had issues with sitting and running for almost 2 months, but I tried your exercises from the previous videos and I saw significant improvement in less than a week. A month and a half later it's almost cured.

It's a very frustrating condition, but based on everything I've read it is possible to heal this or at least significantly improve if you keep your sitting posture as best as possible (no legs splayed out to the side) and do the rehab exercises mentioned in the Piriformis video.

[mariah]

Here because I’m in a world of hurt right now. Constant hip problems but bent over tonight and I’m pretty sure it’s sciatic.

[mariavenuscalimbo]

All i can say with this video thank you it helps me a lot and same with my friends too.More power to both of you.

[avalerie]

Apparently, I've made enough searches that big brother brought me your video! LOL
Thank you. Knowledge really really helps !!!!

[andysmith]

After seeing multiple doctors due to a bulging disc for the past 6 months. I keep telling the doctors and chiropractor that I hurt to stand up but once I walk it loosens up. After thinking I was crazy I saw this video and you guys talk about the herniated disc causing pain when a person stands up and starts walking. Thank you for making these videos.