Is this my piriformis or hamstring?

[kenda]

I have a pain in the back of my left leg and can't decide if its my piriformis muscle or hamstring. Its right below my butt cheek or "thutt", pretty much in the middle of my leg. It has been especially hurting after I finish a run. I always thought piriformis pain is more on the side of your hip? Regardless, I'm hoping someone could give me some advice on stretches/solutions for this. (Isn't exercise supposed to make you feel younger, not older? )

[dmlarue1]

The piriformis muscle is one of your deep buttock muscles. it inserts into the hip and helps rotate the hip. From what you are describing it sounds more like hamstring that is causing the problem. It's very common to see hamstring strains in runners....it's very important to get treatment as most runners continue to run and then sometimes end up with hamstring ruptures. You could try hamstring stretches and rest until you see a professional...

long link but works

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Posterior_Hip_Muscles_1.PNG/250px-Posterior_Hip_Muscles_1.PNG&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piriformis_muscle&h=303&w=250&sz=62&tbnid=KbZWVCdD zF6V_M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=74&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpiriformis%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoo m=1&q=piriformis&hl=en&usg=__wur5cQvuXvIU-
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[kitty12]

I think it sounds like hamstring too and I've had both. I used to have a sore spot where the hamstring joined, right near the sit bone. My PT said it was likely the hamstring. Yours sounds lower in the leg so I'm thinking hamstring. Some good stretching might help. I stretch a lot. When my piriformis bothered me it usually snapped and was more in my hip, but not where the IT band is.

[Amazon]

Get a foam roller and roll out your hamstrings and thighs on all sides. When I have tightness where you describe, rolling out the leg just above the knee cap helps a lot.

Then I get a tennis ball or a baseball and use it to roll out the calf muscles and then finally the gluteal muscles.

The best way I've found to do hit the glute muscles is to sit on the ground with my knees bent and my feet flat. I lift one ankle and rest it on the opposite knee. Then I put the tennis ball (or baseball) under that ankle's glute and roll back and forth for a minute or so.

It's painful at first, but I breathe through it and continued rolling helps relax the muscle. I've found that if I leave the tight gluteal muscle alone, my lower back starts to get painful, so I take the time to do it right.

Finally, you stand up and roll out the base of your foot with the tennis ball. (You should be barefoot.)

[Kyra]

If your problem is muscular, you are in the region of the hamstring. I've pulled one hiking but never running (although it sure affected my running, as well as my sitting!). Foam rolling and stretching may help, although that depends on the cause of the problem. If it persists it's probably worth seeing a PT or sports physio about it. You may have a muscular imbalance or the problem may not be muscular at all, in which case you could make things much worse by continuing to run.

Quite honestly I think your best bet is to rest it for a while (week to ten days) and see if it improves. If it does, you could either rest a bit longer or gradually start to run again, as long as you can stay pain free. If you can't, I'd go see someone.