Piriformis
You may not be familiar with this muscle, unless it's caused problems. Then you'll become familiar with it very, very quickly. This is definitely a niche post (wait, aren't they all?), but if it helps even one of you, then mission accomplished.
Here's a summary of the injury from Google's AI assistant:
Piriformis syndrome is a condition that occurs when the piriformis muscle in the buttocks presses on the sciatic nerve, causing pain and discomfort in the buttocks, thigh, and leg. Symptoms include:
Aching, burning, or shooting pain in the buttocks that may extend down the leg
Tingling or numbness in the buttocks and down the leg
Pain that worsens after sitting, climbing stairs, walking, or running
I had this once (or sciatica--it was difficult to tell), and the orthopedist recommended I undergo a procedure where I lay on my stomach under a giant machine that used a computer to descend to my back, apply an enormous amount of pressure, and inject me in a particular spot.
This worked, after a while, for both me (pain relief) and the orthopedist ($$$).
Now it's come back, or something similar, and I don't want to undergo the injection again (it's quite unpleasant, and expensive), so I've been casting about for anything that might help.
At first, I just thought I wouldn't sit down unless I absolutely had to. Like most of us, I sit far too much, even though I work out every day, so I tried cutting it out almost entirely. This seemed to have a positive effect after the first day, and then my foot hurt when I woke up the next morning from all the standing.
I kept searching, and I stumbled on a website that mentioned trying one thing in particular, which is sitting differently. Specifically, crossing your affected leg over when you sit and making a triangle, essentially.
I did this for five minutes and felt relief almost immediately.
This is the third day, and I'm considerably better. Shockingly so, really. I also lie on my back and pull my legs up to my chest to stretch before I get out of bed in the morning, because it's tight when I wake up.
I mention all this because my orthopedist didn't. At all. So if you're having some variation of this, try sitting in this position and see if it helps. I hope it does.
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