r/openpiriformis

Basically my glutes were weak or piriformis got inflammed on my left leg because I overused the stair master, which caused painful contractions in the glute area and discomfort every night that wakes me up.

The pain became unbearable and I ended up going to a PT and they did some moves with my leg that was very intense in order to “move the Sciatic nerve”. My hip/piriformis muscle also was “cracked/popped”. A good amount of the pain/discomfort went away but still woke up with this dull ache discomfort. Is this a sign the leg/nerve is healing?

Update: I've added hip/foot movement videos and a fuller description here: https://www.reddit.com/r/hipdysplasia/comments/1wylcqg/

I'm 24 and have had bilateral PAO. The dysplasia-related and labral symptoms resolved after PAO. My earlier mention of a pre-PAO labral tear should not be read as a current unresolved tear. The separate snapping/catching and leg/foot symptoms below predate PAO and remain.

The click feels deep around the left hip, possibly toward the back/inner side. Side-to-side movement, swaying and weight shifts trigger it. Walking produces a click/scrape over the same obstructed spot with every step. It feels impeded; pressure builds, and repeated clicking becomes uncomfortable or painful.

On standing up, the leg feels cramped, as if curling the toes. Discomfort runs down the back of the leg into the plantar arch, with some front/inner-thigh discomfort. Sitting modulates it; loading the left leg often brings it on. I can't reliably link a single click to the arch sensation. Occasionally the whole leg cramps and toes curl for seconds to around half a minute. No clear loss of function.

I have existing hip/lumbar imaging. Prior lumbar imaging described an L4/5 protrusion, but its relevance to this pattern isn't established. A tendon/deep-gluteal nerve mechanism is a possibility, not a confirmed diagnosis.

For people who had something similar: what structure was identified, and did treatment stop the click/catch as well as the leg symptoms? Which specialist helped, especially with remote image/video review before travel?