Piriformis Syndrome & Sciatica - Stretching Exercises

PDF of exercises: http://yogabody.com/back-pain-and-spi... Do you have a tight piriformis muscle? Is it causing pain in your butt or even sciatic nerve irritation? If so, this video is for you. We’ll look first at the anatomy of the piriformis, and then we’ll try two exercises to stretch and relieve tension in this unique muscle. VIDEO CONTENTS 00:00 Intro 00:45 Anatomy 01:37 Weird Medial Rotation 02:23 Pinched Sciatic Nerve 02:55 Self Massage 05:45 Pretzel Leg Twist DISCLAIMER: If you have a major injury or are suffering from severe sciatica, please go see a doctor, this is for education purposes only. ANATOMY & BIOMECHANICS The piriformis is a unique muscle in that it changes its function based on the angle of your hip. The muscle starts at your greater trochanter, the bony part of your hip, and attaches at the anterior side of your sacrum. It’s mostly a lateral rotator, so when you open your hip to the side, your piriformis is involved in that movement. But once you flex your hip past 90-degrees, it becomes a medial rotator - very unique. Because of the muscle's location and its involvement in many movements it can often become irritated, overstretched or overused. This might happen from sitting all day, or any any type of overuse. SCIATICA & PIRIFORMIS The sciatic nerve runs right next to the piriformis and in some, right through the muscle. So an inflamed piriformis can cause pretty major pain. Most sciatica is caused by a lumbar spine compression, but in an estimated 5% of cases, sciatica can be caused first and foremost by a piriformis problem. To make things challenging, because it’s both a lateral and medial rotator, it can be tricky to stretch and almost impossible to isolate, but it is possible. It’s also important to note that the piriformis responds well to push-release massage and contract-relax stretching (also known as PNF), so we’ll include those in our our routine. EXERCISES WE'LL LEARN Pretzel Leg Twist Press-Release Massage WANT MORE? 21-Day Happy Back Challenge: http://www.yogabody.com/happy-back Join our YOGABODY Daily at-home fitness program: https://www.yogabody.com/yb-daily/ Lucas' podcast: http://www.LucasRockwoodShow.com Main site: http://www.yogabody.com Like this video? Please subscribe for more https://www.youtube.com/c/YOGABODY_Of... Got a question? Please post down below... #piriformis #piriformissyndrome #sciatica