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Old 05-16-2011, 06:52 AM
glenntaj glenntaj is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Queens, NY
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glenntaj glenntaj is offline
Magnate
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Queens, NY
Posts: 2,857
15 yr Member
Default It certainly is possible--

--to have compressive neuro symptoms caused by malpositioned or overdeveloped muscle.

As you mentioned, piriformis syndrome is the most well-know example of this, but it has also been reported in some over-developed athletes in the area of the quadriceps and/or lower leg muscles. It is mentioned in the following:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1234809-overview

I wonder if some steroid-using bodybuilders might have experienced this.

Also, particularly in the pelvic area, it is possible for tight or malpositioned ligaments to produce neuropathic symptoms. The track of the pudendal nerve (which serves the pubic area) takes it through some rather narrow spaces and sharp bends and compression is possible at several spots--particularly behind the sacrospinal ligament:

http://pudendal.com/

http://www.pudendalhope.org/node/13#...Pudendal_Nerve

I seem to have a recurrent case of pudendal neuralgia that I try to keep at bay with very hands-on physical therapy. An MRI of my pelvis also showed some evidence of varicose veins traversing the path of the S2 nerve pathway down to the pudendal nerve (the vein and nerve paths are parallel and close together anatomically)--it's unclear if this is contributing. (My radiologist said it's the first time she'd ever seen this in a male.)

I do know in other parts of my body I am prone to compressive neural symptoms when my muscles are engorged, such as after weightlifting. In my case I suspect it may have to do with regenerated nerve pathways that traverse the anantomy differently than my origianl ones did--my original acute-onset body-wide small fiber syndrome killed off or damaged a large proportion of my unmyelinated nerves that subsume pain and temperature sensations, and ongoing skin biopsies seem to show that I am slowly regenerating nerves, but these have to fight around and through other body tissue and likely end up traversing differently than they once did. It has certainly altered my fitness regimen--I go much more for high reps with light weights, trying not to build any bulk.
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