First, buttocks pain not always but typically originates from nerve pain. In fact, the centralization phenomenon occurs as the nerve pain improves. That is, a severely compressed or irritated nerve will radiate pain down its distribution to the end of the nerve. An L5 nerve will radiate pain down to the great toe. As the nerve improves, the pain recedes up the leg to finally end up at the buttocks before disappearing (if the nerve continues to improve).
The feeling of buttocks swelling is probably from the anesthesia response to nerve compression. When you go to a dentist and he anesthetizes your jaw, it feels like it is really swollen but it is not. This feeling is from the anesthesia effect on the sensory nerves. The effect is similar to the “buttocks swelling” feeling.
Don’t worry about small lumps that are not painful or do not cause you to feel “sick” as these are just the healing under the skin and generally can be ignored.
Dr. Corenman
PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.
Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.
