Bilateral burning pain in buttocks

I have this exact issue, except that the pain is in my upper buttocks near my tailbone/sacrum. I had a laminectomy at L4-L5 about 18 months ago. That briefly made it better, but it did not last. I would like to tell you that I found a solution, but I haven’t. I have had all sorts of injections, physical therapy and oral medication. Nothing seems to help much. I also have nerve pain in my legs and some other things going on, so I recently had a spinal cord stimulator implanted. So far it has not helped with any of my symptoms, but the rep still seems convinced that it will help me once we get it programmed to my needs.

Anyway, I would suggest that you request an MRI of your pelvis/sacrum area. You may have nerves being pinched in that area that don’t show on an MRI.

That would also show if you had issues with your SI Joints. That is a pretty common issue.

I have a walking problem. I had noticed that I had some right foot drop but sort of dismissed it. Then maybe 2 weeks later I was at my sister’s house for the evening and when I wanted to go home I basically couldn’t walk! She helped me to my car and since then I’ve had to use a walker. 2 days later I went to the ER and they did a cat scan and X-rays and nothing showed up. They couldn’t get an MRi scheduled for weeks. So I decided to visit the 1st orthopedic surgeon I could get into. Several weeks again! (Anyway I had had a 4 disc lumbar fusion 2 yrs ago which the Drs I saw said looked okay.) After the MRI the Dr I chose did a minimally invasive procedure on Sept 25 at L1&L2 which went well. So now I’m healed but I still can’t walk! And I’m planning to get nerve testing done (EMG)? So this has been going on since Memorial Day! About the middle of this I noticed some numbness called ‘saddle anesthesia’ but it hasn’t caused me to be incontinant. I haven’t had much pain with all this thankfully. But I just want to walk! I’m 83 but I was taking care of a big yard having the family for meals exercising on my Nordic track! But the Drs can’t seem to figure it out! So if anyone out there has any ideas please share them! Scared002

@scared002 Have you asked about physical therapy? If your pelvis is out of alignment, it may cause some issues. The pundental nerve goes to the “saddle” area. There may also be tightness between the pelvis and spine which can mimic a spine problem affecting some nerves. If you find a massage therapist or physical therapist who does myofascial release on the tight tissue, it may help. Surgical scar tissue gets tight and can make this worse. I do have to stretch out my surgical scars every so often. There is a provider search at mfrtherapists.com.

@jenniferhunter thank you… I have been to a massage therapist and about 10 sessions of pt. PT told me that it wasn’t really helping because the message my brain was sending wasn’t getting through! So maybe the EMG test will be helpful! What do you think of trying some steroids?

@scared002 I don’t have a clue about steroids. I did one spine injection and had a bad reaction, so I won’t do that again. MFR is different from PT. It is stretching in slow motion and it helps a lot of conditions if the cause is muscle and tissue tightness which can pull the body out of good alignment. I don’t know how to copy a link from my phone here, but if you search for myofascial release, you can find the discussion that I started which has lots of information. There is also a website, myofascialrelease.Com

I developed the same problem several months ago. Both buttocks burn and hurt a lot but only when walking. Sitting or laying down I have no problem. I do not think I did anything that caused that issue for me.

One of my doctors feel it is caused by a pinched nerve in my spine. I have a very crooked spine and bulges which have gotten much worse in the last year or so. This was from an MRI done last June.

Due to other serious health issues both the orthopedic surgeon and the pain med doctor will not do any procedure until I can get cleared by my treating doctors. I am hoping to get that clearance by Jan 2026.

@jenniferhunter thank you for responding. My pt therapist says that my nerves don’t communicate to my muscles. Which I totally agree with as well as my drs. And I know that nerves recover slowly or not at all… depending on the situation. The puzzle is that it came on so fast… walking into the house and can’t walk out!! And I can drive… don’t even think about it!!
Still scared002