u/-SpaghettiCat-
[Homemade] Freezer-Aisle Dim Sum
*Home-prepared, the items are all frozen packaged items from Asian market, steamed in bamboo steamer
u/-SpaghettiCat- — 3 days ago
▲ 1 r/medical_advice
44M – Severe sitting pain (glute → hamstring), normal MRIs, no relief after injections/PT
Posting for a friend (44M, Orange County, CA) who’s dealing with ongoing pain and honestly starting to hit a wall with it.
Main issue:
- Pain triggered primarily by sitting (~99%)
- Left side: glute → lower hamstring
- Described as burning pain
- Some numbness above the knee
- Starts getting worse after ~10 minutes sitting
- Improves when standing, but doesn’t fully go away
Worse with:
- Car/bucket seats (Tesla seat especially bad)
- Soft/cushioned seating (couches)
Better with:
- Firm, flat surfaces
- More upright posture
- Standing
Workup so far:
- Lumbar spine MRI — negative
- Hip MRI — negative
- Pelvic MRI — negative
- MR neurogram (lumbosacral plexus + sciatic nerves) — normal
- Nerve conduction study — normal
Seen multiple specialists (including orthopedics and nerve-focused), but no clear diagnosis.
Treatments tried (no lasting relief):
- Lumbar epidural steroid injection
- Piriformis injections
- SI joint injection
- Tailbone / coccyx injection
- Various glute + hamstring injections
- Other targeted orthopedic injections
👉 Net: no durable relief
Other treatments:
- 4+ rounds of physical therapy
- Acupuncture
- Active Release Technique (ART)
- Manual therapy
Recently tried hydrodissection:
- First time → some temporary relief
- Second time → no benefit
Additional context:
- Currently on Zoloft (SSRI) — helps with anxiety around the situation, but not the pain
- On medical leave from work, which is set to expire soon
- Pain is pretty constant and not really sustainable long-term
He feels like this is something mechanical/positional, especially tied to sitting, but nothing has clearly shown up on imaging.
What we’re trying to figure out:
Has anyone experienced something like this where:
- Imaging is clean
- Injections/PT don’t work
- Pain is highly position-dependent (sitting)
Some things we’ve wondered about:
- Deep gluteal syndrome
- Nerve entrapment outside the spine
- Proximal hamstring / ischial area issues
- Something dynamic that isn’t showing up on scans
Looking for:
- Similar experiences
- Diagnoses that took a long time to figure out
- Specialists (especially in Southern California)
- Any treatment that actually helped
Honestly just trying to explore any avenue at this point. The constant pain has been really tough on him and I’m starting to get concerned.
I may not have every detail perfectly right, but I can ask him follow-up questions if anything would help narrow things down.
Really appreciate any input - thanks in advance for any help.
u/-SpaghettiCat- — 4 days ago
▲ 1 r/ChronicPain
44M – Severe sitting pain (glute → hamstring), normal MRIs, no relief after injections/PT… running out of options (SoCal)
Posting for a friend (44M, Orange County, CA) who’s dealing with ongoing pain and honestly starting to hit a wall with it.
Main issue:
- Pain triggered primarily by sitting (~99%)
- Left side: glute → lower hamstring
- Described as burning pain
- Some numbness above the knee
- Starts getting worse after ~10 minutes sitting
- Improves when standing, but doesn’t fully go away
Worse with:
- Car/bucket seats (Tesla seat especially bad)
- Soft/cushioned seating (couches)
Better with:
- Firm, flat surfaces
- More upright posture
- Standing
Workup so far:
- Lumbar spine MRI — negative
- Hip MRI — negative
- Pelvic MRI — negative
- MR neurogram (lumbosacral plexus + sciatic nerves) — normal
- Nerve conduction study — normal
Seen multiple specialists (including orthopedics and nerve-focused), but no clear diagnosis.
Treatments tried (no lasting relief):
- Lumbar epidural steroid injection
- Piriformis injections
- SI joint injection
- Tailbone / coccyx injection
- Various glute + hamstring injections
- Other targeted orthopedic injections
👉 Net: no durable relief
Other treatments:
- 4+ rounds of physical therapy
- Acupuncture
- Active Release Technique (ART)
- Manual therapy
Recently tried hydrodissection:
- First time → some temporary relief
- Second time → no benefit
Additional context:
- Currently on Zoloft (SSRI) — helps with anxiety around the situation, but not the pain
- On medical leave from work, which is set to expire soon
- Pain is pretty constant and not really sustainable long-term
He feels like this is something mechanical/positional, especially tied to sitting, but nothing has clearly shown up on imaging.
What we’re trying to figure out:
Has anyone experienced something like this where:
- Imaging is clean
- Injections/PT don’t work
- Pain is highly position-dependent (sitting)
Some things we’ve wondered about:
- Deep gluteal syndrome
- Nerve entrapment outside the spine
- Proximal hamstring / ischial area issues
- Something dynamic that isn’t showing up on scans
Looking for:
- Similar experiences
- Diagnoses that took a long time to figure out
- Specialists (especially in Southern California)
- Any treatment that actually helped
Honestly just trying to explore any avenue at this point. The constant pain has been really tough on him and I’m starting to get concerned.
I may not have every detail perfectly right, but I can ask him follow-up questions if anything would help narrow things down.
Really appreciate any input - thanks in advance for any help.
u/-SpaghettiCat- — 4 days ago
▲ 4 r/Sciatica
44M – Severe sitting pain (glute → hamstring), normal MRIs, no relief after injections/PT… running out of options (SoCal)
Posting for a friend (44M, Orange County, CA) who’s dealing with ongoing pain and honestly starting to hit a wall with it.
Main issue:
- Pain triggered primarily by sitting (~99%)
- Left side: glute → lower hamstring
- Described as burning pain
- Some numbness above the knee
- Starts getting worse after ~10 minutes sitting
- Improves when standing, but doesn’t fully go away
Worse with:
- Car/bucket seats (Tesla seat especially bad)
- Soft/cushioned seating (couches)
Better with:
- Firm, flat surfaces
- More upright posture
- Standing
Workup so far:
- Lumbar spine MRI — negative
- Hip MRI — negative
- Pelvic MRI — negative
- MR neurogram (lumbosacral plexus + sciatic nerves) — normal
- Nerve conduction study — normal
Seen multiple specialists (including orthopedics and nerve-focused), but no clear diagnosis.
Treatments tried (no lasting relief):
- Lumbar epidural steroid injection
- Piriformis injections
- SI joint injection
- Tailbone / coccyx injection
- Various glute + hamstring injections
- Other targeted orthopedic injections
👉 Net: no durable relief
Other treatments:
- 4+ rounds of physical therapy
- Acupuncture
- Active Release Technique (ART)
- Manual therapy
Recently tried hydrodissection:
- First time → some temporary relief
- Second time → no benefit
Additional context:
- Currently on Zoloft (SSRI) — helps with anxiety around the situation, but not the pain
- On medical leave from work, which is set to expire soon
- Pain is pretty constant and not really sustainable long-term
He feels like this is something mechanical/positional, especially tied to sitting, but nothing has clearly shown up on imaging.
What we’re trying to figure out:
Has anyone experienced something like this where:
- Imaging is clean
- Injections/PT don’t work
- Pain is highly position-dependent (sitting)
Some things we’ve wondered about:
- Deep gluteal syndrome
- Nerve entrapment outside the spine
- Proximal hamstring / ischial area issues
- Something dynamic that isn’t showing up on scans
Looking for:
- Similar experiences
- Diagnoses that took a long time to figure out
- Specialists (especially in Southern California)
- Any treatment that actually helped
Honestly just trying to explore any avenue at this point. The constant pain has been really tough on him and I’m starting to get concerned.
I may not have every detail perfectly right, but I can ask him follow-up questions if anything would help narrow things down.
Really appreciate any input - thanks in advance for any help.
u/-SpaghettiCat- — 4 days ago
I Cooked Prime New York Steak with Lobster Tails
u/-SpaghettiCat- — 17 days ago