Is Overactivity Causing Your Piriformis Pain?

If you suffer from piriformis pain, your active lifestyle could be the cause. Read on to learn about piriformis pain, what causes it, and what you can do to help stop it.

The piriformis muscle is a flat band of muscle located in the buttocks just above the hip joint. Piriformis syndrome is a rare neuromuscular disorder that develops as a result of the piriformis muscle compressing the sciatic nerve.

Piriformis pain is usually caused by an active lifestyle that involves improper form, running up hills, repetitive motions, lack of warm-up exercises, and in some cases, sitting for long periods in a position that irritates the piriformis muscle.

Piriformis pain can start as a tingling or numbness in the buttocks. It can be mild or severe and may even extend down the length of the sciatic nerve, radiating into the leg.

Treating Piriformis Pain

Piriformis pain can be debilitating and keep you from doing your favorite sports and exercises and regular everyday activities. You can treat piriformis pain with:

• Ice: Using ice to treat piriformis pain will help ease the pain and minimize swelling of the piriformis, reducing compression on the sciatic nerve.
• Rest: If you suffer from piriformis pain, letting your body rest while you recover can go a long way in ensuring it does not become a permanent problem.
• Heat: Heating the area can help bring blood flow to the injury site, which can help heal the muscle faster.
• Warm-ups: Doing warm-ups before you become active can prime your body and muscles for repetitive, harsh, and excessive movement. Warm-ups lubricate your muscles and get blood flowing to the area. This makes your muscles more pliable and less likely to sustain injury.
• Wear Proper Footwear: Wearing shoes that offer the right kind of shock-absorbing shoes with arch support can help keep your body and muscles healthy from the ground up by promoting healthy balance, posture, and gait.
• OTC Medications: Over the Counter (OTC) anti-inflammatory medications can help lessen swelling of the muscles, which can relieve compression on the sciatic nerve. WARNING: Do not use OTC medications to ignore piriformis pain. Make sure you are taking other steps to correct and heal the injury.

• Stop Activities or Change Position: Avoid doing anything that causes piriformis pain. If it causes pain, stop and change activities, or alter your sitting position. Continuing will only make the situation worse.
• Use Proper Form: Make sure that you use proper form when you exercise during each activity. Using proper form can go a long way in helping you maintain excellent health and avoid injury.

Protect Against Piriformis Pain With KURU

The patented KURUSOLE technology in every pair of KURU athletic shoes provides optimal arch support and a deep heel cup that flexes to hug your heel with every step. This flexing motion gives you supreme shock absorption while helping to keep your heel fat pad below your heel where it belongs.

Over time, heat-reactive foams in the footbed of KURU walking shoes mold to your exact foot shape for a custom fit and feel so powerful that it can help you maintain better balance, walking gait, and whole-body health to help you avoid injuries such as piriformis pain by first managing foot health.

Do more and go longer with less pain. Experience better energy with KURU shoes.

About Us

At KURU, we're on a mission to help you Heel Better™ with footwear technology designed to relieve foot pain, so you can live a life you love. Since launching our innovative technology in 2008, we’ve received more than 37,000 five-star reviews from thousands of customers who tell us their KURU shoes helped them get back to doing what they love.

For all media inquiries, please contact us at pr@kurufootwear.com.