buttock pain

Janda - I suppose it would be the same sort of muscle tensing action you would use to stop the feeling you needed to go to the toilet when there wasn't one available. Contract your buttock muscles and then release them several times.

Have you heard of Bowen therapy? I and a couple of others have used that to deal with severe piriformis/sciatica pain with great success. It is a very gentle therapy and a good therapist will tell you you will know after a maximum of 3 sessions if it is going to help - most people get relief after a single approx.1 hour session. It isn't as cheap as the NHS - but it can work miracles.

If you google "Joanne Hewitt Bowen" you should get a link to this lady's site where she explains the history of Bowen therapy and how it is done. I don't imagine you would have the luck to be close to her practice in County Durham - but I can promise that she says nothing on that site that isn't true!

On a lighter note - did you know one cause of piriformis syndrome in men is sitting on their wallet in their back pocket? It is an advantage of manbags...

Hit the bottom of the barrel with that one Eileen, i think I will have to get a mankini as there is nowhere to put a wallet.

Wish I had a wallet to blame but as an impoverished pensioner just cannot afford one. Keep my pittance in my wifes purse! Maybe after 3 plus years of pred my muscles have wasted to the extent that piriformis muscle is impinging on sciatic nerve, any thoughts about that?

Thanks all for the advice, especially about the 'Bowens' procedure. I have looked into it and cannot find one close enough to me at this time but will continue to look. Am also going to try to find a 'good' phsio to cover my bases (no pun intended).

Incidentally, I have a skin condition called Bowens Disease, which is the precurser to skin cancer, the dermatologist freezes them off with liquid nitrogen.

Thanks all for the input.

Cheers.

Janda

I'm just waiting for my first pension payment - which will be paid into my husband's account since I don't have one here in Italy (far too expensive to run one if you don't need it). It will be the first regular income for me since we moved here - I did continue my translating business but the "crisis" put the mockers on that and it cost more to be registered to work than I was earning!

I think the usual problem with the piriformis/sciatic nerve is that in some people the nerve actually runs THROUGH the muscle group. Any problem with the muscle can irrititate the nerve and when it is fed up enough it shouts out! In some cases a good sports massage therapist will sort it out. The local medical massage therapist where I lived in Germany was also the physio for the local football team - boy, could he deal with spasmed muscles!!! Really missed that when I went back to the UK - and it was all on the health service too!

I think I will mention a possible problem with the piriformis/sciatic nerve to my therapist today.  It does feel like that a nerve is pinched on the right side of my buttock depending how I move and especially when I stand up.  I am glad that I can walk better.

It is good to do all the research with the help of my support group friends!! :-)

I have buttock pain too and want to give scrunchjing a try but as i am sat (in bum pain) reading these posts i wondered do we do them sat down or stood up !

It is easier standing I would think but I doubt it matters a lot!

My therapist told me to sit on a tennisball (not soft surface like a couch) for about 2 minutes at a time a few times a day.  I did, and one can actually feel the spasmed and sore muscles in the right buttock.  She confirmed Sacroiliacitis, and her treatment has improved my walking which was painful.  I also had some pelvic misalignment.

She had not heard of Bowen Thrapy, but what she is doing must be close to this type of therapy.

I doubt it Erika - they don't apparently do very much with Bowen! If no one explained anything to you you would probably leave thinking it was an absolute con trick. You lie on a couch, usually starting on your front, fully clothed, and the therapist runs her hands across various muscle groups/attachments. Some therapists will do much firmer movements with patients they know or who have had a fair amount of experience with Bowen before. I knew where she is working but rarely felt anything while she was doing it - on occasions I did though. I often felt something change - although I couldn't explain the feeling. At the end of a treatment I felt quite tired and sometimes light headed - despite having done nothing apparently for the last hour! But the effect was real enough I promise.

I wonder if there is a film of it on the internet - I'll have a look.

Right! There are loads of videos on youtube.

If you google "Bowen therapy youtube" you will get a pile of links and I found this one:

"Introduction to Bowen therapy by Mitchell Mosher" was a particularly good explanation of what he felt at his first experience and he then goes on to demonstrate what he does in a treatment plus a short talk about an actual patient he had had with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. It lasts 13mins.

To the uninitiated it may sound a bit strange. Having had it done to me I can only say that it did something for me that was worth every penny I paid. I didn't have the dramatic results he describes, it took a couple of sessions - but the effect was pretty much as good.

Have a look.

Thank you for your explanation.  I will check out the Bowen Therapy youtube.  Another session with the female therapist today and her massaging hurts.  I feel that she is knowledgeable.  She says she has done this for 12 years and sees patients with the problem I have daily.

 

Going to the Christmas get together/party of the PMRGCAuk Surrey support group at Chertsey on Tues 2nd. Dec. (No not really a plug). That is if God willing and I don't fall down any more stairs as I did yesterday causing another two skin tears which I know will take yonks to heal (Warfarin does that).There should be over 40 attendees, will ask if anybody has experienced Bowens Therapy as am very interested to try it. Read somewhere that too much pressure on muscles by physiotherapists can be counter productive. Am I right or wrong.?

Am on the pred reduction prog. and have to take 1/2 mg. tabs as part of this prog, was using 2 1/2mg. brown gastro resistant tabs but now just cut a 5mg. white and 1mg tab in half  to get to the 1/2 mg. Bought a nifty little tab cutter from Asda called Safe & Sound Extra for about £2.00, does the job. Now take my meds. between 2 and 4am when I wake naturally to pee. By the time I get up at about 7- 30am I find that I am not so stiff and that pain is a lot less. And even the sciatica/piriformis seems to have eased a little. Thank you Eileen and everybody else for the info. on buttock crunching, tried to get my gluts moving but they appear to be frozen, either 'cos of non-use for such a long time or the extensive surgery I had in the pelvic region many years ago. 

Cheers.

Janda

Nefret on this forum sometimes comes to Chertsey and she has had Bowen therapy very successfully. Not sure who else. 

My news of the day is I have found a Bowen therapist in my village - well, sort of, it's a half hour walk or a 5min drive. On the "to do" list for tomorrow!!

Hi there JandaPea!   No problem at all with you "pluggng Chertsey"!  As already arranged, Following our recent chat, I aim to put out feelers among those present at the meeting on Tuesday as to whether anyone has tried 'Bowen'.  Failing a positive response, we can always put you in touch with Nefret as she is unlikely to be at Chertsey next week  - she came in June especially to meet up with EileenH and others from another forum who made special 'guest appearances'!

As for you having read somewhere that too much pressure on muscles by physiotherapists can be counter-productive in PMR, yes you are right (see the copy of the relevant newsletter I sent).  The usual manual techniques of physiotherapy should be avoided - only gentle massage, heat treatment, ultrasound is wise, apart from in the much later stages of the disease process when perhaps steroid-weakened muscles would benefit from a little bit of extra exercise. 

Please no more tumbles on the stairs - especially not now when you have started to finally feel some benefit.

Moderator, I have discovered that I no longer seem to be receiving email notification of posts to this group.  I'm also not being connected automatically as in the past but find myself having to log in each time.  Are there perhaps more changes/updates being carried out on the site?

Have you spoken to MrsK recently MrsO? They had a very popular talk at her group by "our" Bowen therapist, who did a short demo as well. I gather the NE is also trialling Bowen on the NHS - like they offer acupucture - to see if it is useful.

Jandapea - did you have a look for Bowen on youtube as I suggested. The videos are very good. The one I mentioned is by a podiatrist (US speak for orthopaedic foot specialist) who has found his patients end up needing less surgery when they also have Bowen sessions. 

I had a day of no email notifications yesterday but it is back to normal now MrsO. I usually log in and out so I can't comment on that being a problem. It is unbelievably slow though and several times I have given up altogether. I have also had several episodes where it tells me there is an error and apparently the post hasn't registered but when I open the thread in a new tab the new post appears OK. Obviously that has happened to you and several others - I assume from the duplicated posts at least.

Hi Eileen!  Although I've been in email contact with MrsK recently, it was before I noticed mention of Bowen on this thread, so no I haven't discussed with her.  That might be a good idea, as perhaps whoever was her guest speaker might be able to recommend a contact in my area. Don't particularly fancy just picking up a speaker without some prior recommendation.  Mind you, guest speakers are arranged for nearly all Surrey's meeting dates for 2015, but might just be able to squeeze someone in towards the end of the year.  I will talk to MrsK - thanks for the tip, Eileen.

Ah, well I have received notification of one of your posts Eileen so perhaps it's working sometimes.  As for trying to send a reply and then being told there is an error, that really is a time waster and very off-putting! And then to find the post has appeared...in duplicate!  Although I don't wish forum problems on anyone else, I'm a little bit relieved to hear it isn't only happening to me!  I also encountered a bit of a problem with the HealthUnocked forum yesterday - really slow at coming up with the posts, but that seems back to normal today.     

Nefret has one - that can't be too far away. I've just got my appointment for one of the TWO here in the village!!! They work together and the one I rang had no space for 2 weeks, the other has an appointment tomorrow evening. Spoilt for choice - hope they are good. One trained in Germany, the one I'm seeing in Italy so if I don't like her, I shall try the other!

Yes, of course, Nefret has seen a Bowen practitioner recently, I believe - so another contact to try.  Good luck with your new-found practitioner - spoilt for choice!  At least you know what to look out for having had a good one in the past.

Yes, Eileen. Spent a time on You Tube yesterday looking at Bowens vids, very, very interesting and mostly understandable. Don't know much about Chi so went off at a tangent looking at that subject consequently late for bed, made no difference to the new regime I have about taking meds in the wee hours. Only mistake I made was to take a diuretic at the same time 'cos of oedema in my feet and ankles, so kept getting up every 3/4 hr. afterwards!. 

Look forward to Tues Mrs. O.

Cheers.

Janda

Hi Jean. You can do buttock scrunches in any position. I do them a lot on car journeys, hence sitting but lying in bed is very good. Since you are supposed to completely relax in between each scrunch (!), it is more difficult standing up. Like Erika, I was also told to sit on a tennis ball but found it too uncomfortable. More pain than gain! Hope this helps you, Debbie.

Yes, I have had the same experience.  I have to log in and out, and at times it shows an error....

 

You are right....the tennis ball hurts!  I don't know if this is helpful!  I was not feeling better afterwards.  The buttock scrunches are more comfortable.

 

Have you tried re-booting when this happens? The reason one would boot up a computer is when you are utterly fed up with it and 'boot' the monster through the window, opened first of course.

Okay, I will try!! :-)

 

Hi all,

Rather than me interrupting this thread trying to sort queries here - if anyone is still having issues can you please send me a PM with details. If you do not know how to do this the quickest way is just click the envelope under my avatar (the apple/star M) to the left. 

The problem was to do with the servers/databases not being able to cope with the traffic numbers. There has been a fix that has been released to the site which should improve things.

Regards,

Alan