Periformis syndrome in trials

[IanB]

I’m new to the forum and pretty new to trials but wanted to ask if anyone has experienced periformis syndrome specifically as a result of riding trials?

And if so, what treatment worked best for you?

For context, I’m 42 and started riding mtb again 18 months ago after more or less 25 years off. In a bid to avoid my teenage habit of destroying rear derailleur after derailleur with my ropey trials skills I bought an Inspired Flow 24” street trials bike on eBay a few months later. It’s been fantastic getting back into it and I’ve been making some progress, though this has been stalled somewhat frequently by various injuries…middle-aged bodies aren’t quite so resilient to abuse it seems!

I developed periformis syndrome (confirmed by MRI scan) in my left hip 7 months ago. Obviously this is a common cyclist’s injury but with my right being my leading foot I wondered if the load going through my left standing foot may have been contributing factor? Given my relative lack of exercise prior to my return to cycling it’s fair to say I wasn’t in the best of shape which clearly hasn’t helped. I had 7 weeks completely off the bike in the summer due to a broken thumb (another trials injury…) but the periformis remains inflamed.

Anyway, if anyone else has experienced anything something similar I’d be grateful for any advice on getting through this.

Thanks,

Ian

Edited November 1 by IanB

[stirlingpowers]

> 7 weeks
So it's the sitting, not the biking? Other than that, I can only advise to actively relax on the bike and get more range. Makes movements more fluid and impacts soft.

[IanB]

Thanks for the advice!

(at risk of sounding overly defensive here but I can assure you I wasn’t sitting on my arse for 7 weeks over the summer 😉 )

[Daan]

Only suffered this as a result of way too much road biking, as in, doing rides 4 times a week at max effort, six years or so ago. Eventually caught up to me after a very long solo ride where I wanted to keep a certain average speed. Result: inflamed piriformis on the right side (which is also my stronger side, ride right foot forward in trials). Went to a cycling specific physio for this, and what helped me most was doing a specific stretch on my desk every 20 minutes (!), this one. Set a recurring alarm on my phone for this, and kept at it for weeks. Combined with taking it easy riding wise (but not sitting still), it still took a few months to disappear 100%. 

Besides the direct overload from the road biking, the underlying issue was just sitting on my ass too much (work behind a computer) and being very stiff in the hips. Aside from that one stretch that targets the piriformis directly, I found doing yoga moves and hip mobility excercises a few times per week really help with the stiffness there. For trials especially, the less stiff I am in my hips, the more relaxed I can ride, and the more bouncy I feel on the bike. Now I'm getting a bit older (40), I very much notice the difference, off the bike too, so I find that's really worth investing in.

Hope this is of any use! 

[IanB]

That’s exceedingly helpful Daan, my physio has prescribed that particular stretch (along with a few other things, including massage ball work) but hadn’t suggested anything like that frequency!
 

I’m fortunate in not having a job that frequently requires prologued periods of desk-based work (though the injury did first flare up after one such period), that also means I’m not always near a desk every 20 minutes though I guess!!

If you have any particular yoga moves you can point me in the direction of I’d certainly be grateful. My lower back (in fact variously my whole back…) suffers some stiffness so I suspect that probably extends into the hip area too.

Edited November 6 by IanB

[Daan]

I actually joined a yoga class for half a year or so, which helped tremendously. One of those more power yoga oriented ones, as I'm not into the spiritual stuff. Yoga with Adriene on Youtube is a good source if you want to do it by yourself. She has some good hip/lower back routines. 

For the more hip specific mobility stuff, this guy has a nice routine. I especially like the first move (as an extra, I also twist my upper body along with the hips/knees), as well as the thing he does at 8:45. In addition, I'm also trying the pancake stretch (look it up on Youtube). Doing these moves every day. The older I get, the more I need it

To add to that: I also do a lot of single leg stuff in my (weight training) workouts, like pistol squats. They help with keeping all the muscles around the hips in shape too.

Edited November 8 by Daan