Trigger point · Glutes

Piriformis TrP1

The deep buttock ache that runs down the back of the leg — and the point where two different mechanisms get confused. The piriformis lies deep in the buttock, and this lateral point, nearer the point of the hip, refers into the buttock, the sacroiliac region and down the back of the thigh. That distribution overlaps with sciatica, and the sciatic nerve does pass right beside this muscle, so the two get merged. They should not be: referred pain from the muscle and compression of the nerve are separate things with separate signatures, and only one of them is a nerve problem. Referral is a deep, diffuse ache that stops around the knee; nerve involvement brings numbness, tingling and pain that carries on below it. A therapist who can tell them apart is worth a great deal to a client who has been told they have sciatica.