Sharp pain in middle of buttock

So I've got this very sharp pain in the middle of my buttock that makes sitting quite uncomfortable, and I'm not sure what to make of it. The sports medicine doc suggested it could be referred pain from my recently diagnosed (mild) degenerative disc disease, or a case of piriformis syndrome. The curious thing is that it doesn't completely match the sciatica description -- no pain running down my leg -- and it seems to be fairly specific to one spot, made worse when I press on it. A deep-tissue massage last week made it 10 times worse, and running does seem to aggravate it. Can anyone else relate to this? For what it's worth, there's no sign of a lump or swelling, best as I can tell.

[Michael L Gross, MD]

Could be pyriformis syndrome, ischial bursitis, or proximal hamstring tendonitis to name a few.  NSAIDs, ice, a stretching program and Corrective exercises are all useful. Acupuncture is a safe, and effective treatment modality that can also be tried.