Joanna

Don't give up.

I have had acupuncture on a piriformis as well as deep tissue massage. I have also sat on a tennis ball and manoevered it onto the sore spot until it releases. Another trick is to stand up, relax your buttock and then press your thumb onto the sore spot and hold until it releases.

All of these are uncomfortable but they do work.

On a care an maintenance basis there are two stretches that help me:

1. sit on the floor; lift affected leg over the other and place ankle (sore side) on the floor next to knee. Now grasp the knee that is upright in front of you and lean into it and pull it across to feel the stretch - hold for 30 secs. Switch legs and repeat a couple of times.

2. sit in a straight-backed chair, bum well back. Now lift sore leg onto "good" knee. Grasp "bad" knee and press down while leaning forward until you feel the stretch. Count for 30 secs and release. Repeat both sides. N.B on this one don't push "sore" knee too far down as this might stetch your lower back muscles! In other words - let caution be the watchword... 

A combination of all of these have kept me mobile....good luck.

HI Joanne

I couldn't run for a few months.  But I was easing back in to yoga and body balance which really helped with getting the flexibility back.  Currently not running due to achilles problem!!  All the best. :-)

Hi there - I had a piriformis problem with symptoms exactly as you described, from deep wtihin the buttock to the top of my hamstring, and sometimes round to the groin area.  Yes it was excrutiating. It was horrendous as I could neither run nor sit properly, but the problem was eventually cured.  I luckily found a privately practising physio who gave me some very painful deep tissue massage over a period of months, along with a specific stretch to do regularly.   I would suggest you search for private physio practitioners and don't just go with the advice the one you have seen told you.  Best of luck.