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How To Sit With Piriformis Syndrome? | 5 Things To Make You Feel Better [Pro Tip Inside]

Long working hours and a hectic day could never be fun! Ever imagined getting back late from work and ending up the day with a tremendous pain in buttocks when sitting?

Sounds horrible right? When you sit at a place for long hours, you may face numbness or lack of blood circulation. This will redirect to piriformis syndrome. Data and stats from all over the world suggest that over 60% of working people may face piriformis syndrome at least once in a month.

Is there a way you can get relief from this even after sitting for long hours?

Of Course there is!

No need to panic at all if you are facing a bit of pain on your lower back or just on your piriformis muscles. Here is a quick guide on sitting comfortably with piriformis syndrome which you can jiff up to give yourself an easy day.

What Is Piriformis Syndrome?

Piriformis Syndrome is basically a situation where you may experience unbearable pain just underneath your piriformis muscles. It is situated near the buttock region which helps to stabilize the hip joint.

If you are feeling Piriformis Syndrome, it may become unbearable under many circumstances. As a result, it may create numbness or may lead you to suffer from inactivity. The exact reason on why you are facing this problem may be unknown to everyone.

However, most people do say that the real reason behind Piriformis could be mainly because of inactivity or even overexertion. The pain might tend to increase as you get down to a sitting position.

Getting over this pain instantly won’t be easy. But if you are determined to slowly reduce the pain, you can obviously look out for options that will help you to get easy sitting posture.

6 Easy Steps To Sit Comfortably With Piriformis Syndrome

Step 1: Get Ergonomic Chairs

  • The best way to get relief from Piriformis while you are sitting may just be because of the ergonomic chair available with you.
  • Ergonomic chairs are built to deliver you a fine comfort with lower and back muscles. They have precise cushioning systems that help you to get easy flowing movement inside the chair.
  • When you are purchasing a new ergonomic chair, make sure that it has proper backrest along with cushions that are adjacent to your buttocks.
  • The seat width must be adequate which will help you to get an amazing seating under comfortable space. Be specific about the cushions and try to opt for the ones that have a concave base.

Step 2: Take Breaks

  • It is never okay to sit on your chair continuously. If you keep sitting on a stipulated place for hours, blood circulation will obviously stop and it will immediately result in an increase of pain. This is why most orthopaedics do recommend people to take frequent breaks after sitting.
  • Even if you are not being able to take breaks and leave the room, continuous changing of positions is always a good sign. According to multiple researches, sitting for too long will cause your pelvic muscles to be weak and numb.
  • It will also result in unwanted strains. You will have to manually make changes to your sitting positions while attending a meeting or working in your office.

Step 3: Learn To Sit Properly

  • Your sitting posture determines whether you will be able to get relief from Piriformis syndrome or not. Infact, it is also one of the main reasons why you may trigger Piriformis syndrome. Thus, it is always better to avoid some sitting positions.
  • A good practice of sitting properly not only reduces the pain, but it also increases the body productivity. As a result, you would work better and also provide better concentration and health. The right way to sit properly is to sit upright.
  • Too much leaning on the desk or on your back may slowly lead to minor pain. Always try to sit upright which will help you to be comfortable throughout. Keeping your legs at proper positions will also relieve pressure off your hamstring.

Step 4: Offer Some Exercises

  • Although it is an unconventional method to get rid of this problem, some exercises may turn out to be a stress buster. A good practise of exercising, not only keeps your body fit, but it also relaxes your mind.
  • After working for 10 hours in a day, your muscle joints may feel a high level of strain. This may increase chances for having piriformis syndrome much more. Considering some typical exercises like gluteal stretch will always help you to get an amazing result.
  • You can always make out time for some exercises and move around. Doing these exercises will always help you to make your gluteal muscles much more elastic.

Step 5: Apply Heat Therapy

  • Allowing some typical stress busters on your back will only give you a better time. Remember that with higher levels of productivity and continuous sitting you need proper blood circulation.
  • Applying heat could be an easy solution to get rid of the buttock pain when sitting. You can buy a small heating pad and warm up your muscles easily. It is a better alternative than using pain relieves gel and getting out of the box.
  • A quick 15- minute session of heat therapy could do wonders to your lower back muscles.
  • A few rounds of exercise just before this therapy could be very relieving as well.

Step 6: Use a Lumbar Support or Seat Cushion

One of the best ways by which you can get some pain relief is by using a lumbar support. You can also take the help of a seat cushion alternatively.

Adding up a lumbar support will help you to keep the right posture of your spine alignment. This will allow you to get the right alignment of your spine and reduce the difficulties from your back.

Seat cushions are a great addition to your chair. They tend to provide the additional support which will relieve pressure and distribute the weight evenly. As a result of this, the hips and lower back will provide you great results.

Why Does Sitting With Piriformis Syndrome Make It Worse?

If you are sitting in a stagnant position for longer hours, it will put ample pressure on the sciatic nerve. This is also considered as one of the main reasons for formation of Piriformis Syndrome.

One of the most common terms for such syndrome is wallet sciatica or fat wallet syndrome. This is mainly because people who sit with a wallet on their back will start out swelling leading to buttock pain eventually.

Sitting longer with Piriformis syndrome will also change the shape of your core muscles. It can make your core muscles weaker and also put problems on your spine curves.

This can result in hips becoming flexed. This will also start creating a negative impact on the spinal alignment.

Pro Tip

Take out 10 minutes of time after a few hours of work. If you have a busy schedule, you can also perform piriformis exercises on your break time. However, create a regular habit of doing these exercises to help you serve better.

Piriformis Syndrome Vs. Sciatica: What Are The Differences?

The Piriformis Syndrome mainly occurs due to irritation which is caused around the sciatic nerve. In case of such a syndrome, the nerve is compressed because of the muscle locations.

The pain that you get because of this constitution originates from the buttocks causing severe problems. In case of Piriformis Syndrome, the buttocks are primary areas where the pain occurs the most.

The Piriformis Syndrome generally occurs when some anatomic changes take place all around the Piriformis muscles. This is why, most of the people suffering from such a disease feel an immense pain when they try to make any movements.

On the other hand, the Sciatica can also be known as a simple inflammation which is caused to your sciatic nerve. This condition will force the pain to go down to the lower back portion in your body.

This type of inflammation is caused because of a herniated disk. One thing that you need to keep in mind that Sciatica can cause a pinch of immense pain in the lower back and this is why, it is slight different from Piriformis syndrome.

When it comes to the movements recommended for these two conditions, they are totally different. Making movements of Sciatica with presence of Piriformis syndrome will cause more harm to your body.

Alternative Measures to Alleviate Piriformis Syndrome

1. Pigeon Stretches

Pigeon Stretches are an effective and advanced mechanism which directly engages the Piriformis muscle. The one thing that you need to do is to consult a pigeon stretch. Meanwhile, this stretch will relax your hips and will perform a better relief.

When you start to perform correctly, the pigeon stretch can increase the flexibility. You can always increase the hip flexors and can get lower back muscles.

2. Chair Stretches

One of the best ways by which you can reduce the pain is by offering chair stretches. Some prolonged hours for stretches are one of the primary reasons that can cause this disease. It is thus very important to focus on movements.

Focusing on the right stretches will help you to get the best and effective solution. Doing the right stretches can reduce the pain. These stretches will help in relaxing in your lower muscles which will provide you lowering the pain.

Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]

Q1. How Long Does It Take For Piriformis Syndrome To Heal?

A1. If you’ve been diagnosed with Piriformis syndrome, you need to first understand about the problems that are going to come along with this. You need to first ensure about there are no underlying disc problems associated with this.
Before figuring out on how long it will take to find the problems associated with it, you will have to get the best out of it. Following the strict rules of sitting with such syndrome should be your priority if you want to get relief fast.

Q2. How To Avoid Neck And Shoulder Pain At Work?

A2. If you are facing problems with the neck and shoulder pain at work, you should consider in switching over to comfortable exercises. Focus more on adding back postural exercises which will bring a new definition to your fitness routine. These exercises will help you to restore the posture and get a proper relief from any pain.

Q3. Is It Better to Walk or Be Seated to Alleviate Piriformis Syndrome?

A3. If you do not know the accurate symptoms and the source of the problem, then it becomes almost impossible to tell if sitting helps the patients. As a result, it depends on the individuality and also the body posture that you retain.

Q4. How To Sit on Couch With Piriformis Syndrome?

A4. This has to be the worst idea to think about while you are having Piriformis Syndrome. If you are carrying this syndrome, it is not a good idea at all to sit on a couch, instead, the better idea to is to stay away from it.

Q5. What position relieves Piriformis syndrome?

A5. Lying flat on the back is one of the best ways by which you can get position relief from piriformis syndrome. Alternatively, you can feel flat against the floor and raise your knees. You can now slowly raise the knees towards the ceiling. You can now get the correct position to get relief.

Q6. Why is sitting so painful with piriformis syndrome?

A6. Piriformis syndrome will cause chronic pain to multiple parts off the body. The pain formed with sitting is because of piriformic muscles being compressed with the sciatic nerve.

Q7. What kind of chair is best for piriformis syndrome?

A7. The only thing that you can look for is an ergonomic chair. The chairs which have proper ergonomics for lower back support is the ideal purchase for you!

Conclusion

Piriformis syndrome may be a common problem which you are dealing with in your regular life. Ignoring a small bit of pain even while you are working or dealing with daily hassles could lead to a big blunder. The pain may increase to an uncontrollable level which will force you to quit work. But with these tips in place, you will be able to get a quick relief from sore buttocks when sitting. 

Similar to this there is another back pain problem that arises by sitting for long hours. It is sciatica, we have also written an article on comfortable sitting with sciatica.

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