Sudden glute pain with pins and needles in foot

Seventy-year-old guy here. Two evenings ago, while doing a light (125 lb.) squat warmup set, I had a sudden severe pain in my left glute. I barely got the bar back to the hooks, and soon my whole left leg was hurting as well, along with a pins-and-needles sensation in the foot. I couldn’t stand up straight due to the pain, and could walk only by bending way over. I spent a sleepless night (ibuprofen didn’t help a bit), called Teladoc in the morning, and got started on naproxen (500 mg) and prednisone (20 mg), both twice a day. Based on reading, it sounds like this might be piriformis syndrome, though the doc only mentioned sciatica.

The pain is much better now - with the meds, of course. My left foot still feels kind of numb, and it’s hard to straighten my left leg if there’s any weight on it. I can walk around the house upright, with just a slight limp, but only if I brace and concentrate. Surprisingly, in light of how this thing started, an air squat is totally comfortable; of course I’m not doing them in sets!

Normally I do strength training almost every day, either big-4 lifts or isolation stuff, and most days I do either a walk/run or a bike ride as well. Obviously it’ll be a while before I’m back to any of that, let alone all of it! Any suggestions on when and how to get started? (Hip rehab template, maybe?) I usually take a zealous, no-concessions-to-age approach, but I’m sure I’ll have to moderate that!

Hey Jim,

Sorry to hear about this! This syndrome does sound like it could be what is commonly referred to as “sciatica”, particularly given the foot symptoms you’re experiencing. Fortunately this typically has a pretty good prognosis overall, although it can take some time to fully resolve. I don’t love the use of Prednisone for this condition in general, although when it’s prescribed it is often for just a few days.

We do have some resources that you’ll likely find helpful on this topic, starting here:

Thanks so much, Austin. It’s already improved quite a bit; I went without the meds this morning to see how things are really feeling, and it’s pretty tolerable as long as I don’t stand in one place very long. Those articles are very informative and encouraging too. “Confrontation of movement” for the win!