pain in the butt or piriformis syndrome?

If you watch very many of our VIDEO TESTIMONIALS, you’ll see that lots of people from all over the country (and even some from out of the country) travel to Mountain View, Missouri in search of relief for their Chronic Buttock Pain.  Do all of these folks have PIRIFORMIS SYNDROME?  In other words, just because these people have pain in their butt (with or without Sciatica), does that necessarily mean that they have Piriformis Syndrome?  Doubtful.  However, I do think that a great deal of butt pain is Piriformis Syndrome, and if you read my post the other day, you’ll realize that I very much believe it to be more common —– FAR MORE COMMON —- than the 1-3 percent of SCIATICA sufferers that doctors actually diagnose as PS (if they ever diagnose this problem at all).

I get dozens of emails a week that go something like this:  “Dear Doctor Schierling,  I have this pain in my butt.  Do you think I might have Piriformis Syndrome?   I am willing to travel from ________ (insert your city or country here) if you are confident that you can help me.  Maybe I can help.  Unfortunately, that’s not a lot to go on.  The truth is, long-distance diagnosis of anything is difficult.   But trying to diagnose Piriformis Syndrome from an email is usually next to impossible.  And trying to predict whether or not you will respond to treatment ahead of time………?  That’s even harder still.

You see; even if you do have PIRIFORMIS SYNDROME, it is no guarantee that what I do will help you.  If Piriformis Syndrome were a simple diagnosis to make, with a simple fix, you would not be reading this post and debating whether or not to travel to the Ozark Mountains of rural Missouri.  But back to the question I raised in the title, “Butt Pain or Piriformis Syndrome?”. 

This question sort of reminds me of one that I answered a couple of years back; is it “PIRIFORMIS SYNDROME OR SCIATICA?“.  The question at hand, “is it Piriformis Syndrome or just plain old butt pain“, is all but impossible for me to answer — even if I have you in front of me and am able to examine you.  If the average Neurologist / Orthopedic Surgeon can’t tell you what it is, what makes you think that I can do better? 

The thing is; I’m not sure if answering this question really matters.   I mean; how important is it that I am able to exactly diagnose it as Piriformis Syndrome (Butt Pain has many DIFFERENT CAUSES).  By the time that someone who is coming from long-distance to see me gets here, they have tried just about everything there is to try.  They have been through all the tests to rule out things like CANCER or DISC HERNIATION.  They have tried the INJECTIONS.  They have been on all sorts of HARDCORE PAIN MEDS.  They have gone through lots of therapy / Chiropractic.  They have probably even contemplated some sort of surgery!  Allow me to make a suggestion.

Call the problem whatever you want, I help a lot of people with butt pain — whether it is ‘officially‘ diagnosed as Piriformis Syndrome or not.  Can I help your particular case?  Who knows?  Although I weed out lots of people that I know up front that I cannot help via EMAIL CONSULTATION / HISTORIES and / or phone calls, it is impossible to know whether someone with Piriformis Syndrome will get better or not until I actually treat them.  I hate that this is the best I have to offer.  I wish I could give you some sort of grantee.  But really; who else is offering you any degree of real HOPE in just one visit?