Gliding and buttock pain

by Will
(Texas)

Interesting that you are a chiropractor and a glider pilot! I am 30 years old and want nothing more than to get a glider's license. I even live about 25 minutes away from a glider club w/ gliders to rent, an instructor, and great spots to fly (in Texas, USA).

I only have one problem: lately I've been suffering from some sciatic nerve trouble. I saw a doctor who didn't think it was a herniated disc (my thought), but he thought instead that I have piriformis syndrome. I have been walking and stretching to make it better. Sitting makes my leg/butt pain worse, and that is the *only* thing keeping me from getting a glider's license.

I have even saved up the money for lessons. I hope this goes away. It's slowly getting better, but very, very slowly and only because I don't sit down much at all these days (even at work I work standing up now).

Do you have any thoughts? Will this go away? I'd love it if we could email back and forth a bit about it. Thank you so much from the USA!

Hello Will,
Thank you for your question.

First a couple questions:

Where in your leg does it hurt, and does the pain go below the knee? - not likely in a piriformis syndrome.

If you bend forwards, is the naughty leg much tighter than the other leg?

And secondly a little test. Do it gently. Go to this link, and follow the instructions:

http://www.chiropractic-books.com/Slump-Test.html

Let me know the result of these, and then we'll take it further.

Dr Bernie