A person may experience pain in their buttocks when sitting for many reasons, including, minor injuries and bruises and more severe conditions, such as sciatica and damaged disks.
If you've ever been on a long car ride, then you know that sitting for hours at a time can be a pain in the buttocks – literally. That's because sitting for long periods of time can compress the sciatic nerve and cause what is known as piriformis syndrome.
Buttock pain can result from a variety of different causes, including osteoarthritis, sciatica, piriformis syndrome, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, hamstring tendonitis, trochanteric bursitis, coccydynia, and hemorrhoids.
How long can buttock pain last? The buttock pain can last from days to weeks and even months, depending on the cause of buttock pain. For example, in the case of sciatic pain, the pain usually starts getting better in a period of four to six weeks.
Other red flags that indicate sciatica include pain when standing or sitting, numbness in the legs and weakness or numbness when moving a leg or foot.
A tumor can also cause compression of the many nerves in the buttocks, causing a different type of pain. Sometimes cancer causes no symptoms at all.
Just like stress can cause sciatic pain, the repressing of emotions can also contribute to pain. Some experts believe that depression can lead to pain in the buttocks, lumbar area, and feet, and that mood improvements lead to relief.
This might be due to your piriformis muscle, which causes buttock pain, low back pain (pelvic and hip region), and even sciatica. It is VERY debilitating: fixing piriformis syndrome often takes a lot of effort. The piriformis muscle is painful in people who sit for too long with a wrong posture.
Ischial bursitis (ischio-gluteal bursitis) is a condition of inflammation of the bursa, which lies between the ischial tuberosity and the gluteus maximus muscle. It presents with gluteal pain or posterior upper thigh pain following exercise or sitting for a long time.
If you have buttock pain due to piriformis syndrome, avoid sitting for long periods and take short walks or alternate between sitting and standing, if possible. Sit with a neutral, upright spine and avoid slumping or bending forward to help distribute weights evenly through the spine and across the pelvis.
Sciatica pain can be almost anywhere along the nerve pathway. It's especially likely to follow a path from the low back to the buttock and the back of a thigh and calf. The pain can vary from a mild ache to a sharp, burning pain. Sometimes it can feel like a jolt or electric shock.
Sciatica is one of the most common reasons people have a combination of lower back and buttock pain, and this condition occurs when one of the sciatic nerve roots in the lower back is pinched or irritated.
Muscle weakness is most often the common cause of gluteal tendinopathy, along with overuse due to running or walking. As a result, you might experience buttock pain when sitting, as well as pain when attempting to use your glute muscles.
Palpating the spine and buttock can give important information about the source of pain. Usually, tests help to confirm a diagnosis. For example, an x-ray and ultrasound can show changes in the hip, sacroiliac joint, and tendons. However, a good-quality MRI scan is the most useful for diagnosing gluteal pain.
Lumbar or sacral spinal tumors can cause back pain and leg weakness as seen in sciatica; leg pain may also be present. Differentiating signs and symptoms may include one or more of the following: Severe night pain in the back and/or legs. Loss of bowel and/or bladder control.
If the sciatic nerve is damaged, it could result in numbness, tingling and, in more severe cases, weakness in the knees or legs. The longer it is left untreated, the longer it will take for numbness and weakness to go away, and they may become permanent.
The straight leg raise (SLR) test is the most commonly performed physical test for diagnosis of sciatica and lumbar disc hernia [10]. The SLR is considered positive when it evokes radiating pain along the course of the sciatic nerve and below the knee between 30 and 70 degrees of hip flexion [2].
Drinking water is not a specific recommendation to relieve sciatic pain. However, proper hydration can help to reduce inflammation and flush toxins from the body, which may help to improve symptoms. To stay hydrated, 2 litres of water is generally the recommendation.
Overview. Piriformis syndrome is a condition in which the piriformis muscle, located in the buttock region, spasms and causes buttock pain. The piriformis muscle also can irritate the nearby sciatic nerve and cause pain, numbness and tingling along the back of the leg and into the foot (similar to sciatic pain).
Pain on the side of the hip or in your buttocks. Swelling or inflammation. Difficulty sitting.