Posts Tagged ‘piriformis’
Piriformis Syndrome: Pain Comes in Small Packages
Do you know your piriformis muscle?
The piriformis is a little-known muscle located deep in the buttock, near the gluteus maximus. Its primary function is to allow for rotation of the hip and turning of leg and foot outward. It is small, but its potential for pain is enormous because of its location, connecting the lower spine and upper femur. Running directly underneath this muscle is the sciatic nerve, a more well known part of the body that is responsible for sciatic nerve pain. In some people, the nerve will even run directly through the muscle.
Piriformis Syndrome: A Common Cause of Sciatica
Do you know your piriformis muscle?
The piriformis is small but powerful, a muscle located deep within the buttock that connects between the lower spine and the beginning of the femur. It’s function is to assist in rotation of the hip, but the piriformis is more well known for the problems it causes than for the way it assists your day to day movement. The problem is location: it just happens to sit right on top of the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in the human body . In fact, in some people’s bodies, the nerve runs directly through the muscle. This sets up a scenario for impingement on the sciatic nerve.