When there is pain, or numbness / tingling going down the leg, a patient’s first thought is often, “Uh-Oh. It must be a disc.”
Impingement of nerve(s) by a bulging disc can be the cause of these symptoms, but in the absence of any history of injury, such as a lifting strain or a fall or accident, or of disc problems, it is not necessarily the first thing suspected.
A common cause of such symptoms is impingement of the sciatic nerve underneath the piriformis muscle in the buttock. The piriformis may be in spasm, or the patient may have been sitting for prolonged times, or on hard surfaces, causing pressure on the sciatic nerve.
I release a piriformis spasm with the Activator instrument, and give the patient home care instructions and stretches to alleviate the problem.
