Most people will experience some form of back pain during their lifetime. Often low back pain can be due to tightness in the hips. The Piriformis Stretch is an excellent stretch to prevent low back pain.
The piriformis muscle is a small muscle located deep to the gluteus maximus. The sciatic nerve is located in close proximity and in approximately 6% of the population, the sciatic nerve actually bisects the piriformis muscle. The function of the piriformis is to assist in hip rotation and abduction. While this muscle may seem insignificant, it is one of the most common non-disc related causes of sciatica. Due to the importance of this muscle and its close proximity to the sciatic nerve it is important to maintain strength and flexibility of the piriformis. If this muscle becomes tight it can cause piriformis syndrome which can bring on lower back pain and sciatica.
What causes Piriformis tightness?
The most common causes of tightness in the piriformis muscle include:
- Overuse
- Weakness of the muscle
- Inactivity
- Injury
How to Perform the Piriformis Stretch
To help relieve back pain and also to prevent piriformis syndrome one of the most important things you can do is to stretch often and consistently. The best stretch is the piriformis stretch which can be performed by doing the following steps.
- Sit down in a chair with your eyes forward
- Cross one leg over the other in a figure 4 configuration while holding the ankle and knee of the top leg each with one hand
- Begin to lean forward while maintaining a neutral spine holding for a count of 30 then returning back to the starting position
- Repeat this for 3 times on each leg
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