Better again – BionicOldGuy

It’s been over a week since I posted about my frustrations with overconfidence and starting to overdo it. This time I came back and was more careful. I’m now on the verge of getting back to where I was before the setback. I’ll be more careful this time not to overdo it. I can ride for at least 30 minutes at a time without pain, it’s enjoyable and relaxing. In 30 minutes’ drive I can reach some beautiful scenery here,

I also do well in physical therapy. I can’t say it’s completely pain-free, but I learned the important concept of “centralization” while reading this article: When you have sciatica, the pain originates somewhere and then goes down the leg. In my case, this center point is the center of my hip, which is probably piriformis muscle muscle. It’s okay if you feel pain in the central area while doing PT, but this shouldn’t make the transfer in the leg worse because it means the sciatic nerve is being compressed by movement. Following this principle, I’ve been doing pretty well over the last week or so.

I have to have an MRI of my pelvis because I have a visit to an orthopedic specialist in a week. Turns out it hurts. For some reason, even with pillows under my knees, it still hurts to lie on my back for long periods of time. But the good thing to take away from this is that the pain is clearly coming from my left side If attached. Up until now, I had assumed that I just had piriformis syndrome (now also known as deep butt pain). If my sacroiliac joints are also inflamed, I should do additional PT exercises. So I included those that I hope will help. I also cautiously began adding strengthening exercises such as glute bridges and clamshells with resistance bands, which are essential for long-term strengthening of the piriformis and stabilization of the sacroiliac joints.