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Stretch for Piriformis Syndrome
Body Part:
Buttocks & Leg
Equipment:
Midi Massage Ball
Level:
Beginner
Kick Butt Pain in the Butt: An 8-Minute Stretch for Piriformis Syndrome
You sat at your desk all morning. You ate lunch in front of your computer. Now it’s mid-afternoon — time for that meeting a few floors up! You stand and feel a tingling sensation in one of your butt cheeks. It gets worse as you walk. You want to be heart-healthy, so you take the stairs. As you climb, you feel the sensation in your buttock intensify. Sound familiar? You may have piriformis syndrome. Piriformis syndrome occurs when your piriformis muscle spasms or becomes inflamed and presses on your sciatic nerve. According to a study, although piriformis syndrome is an underdiagnosed condition, it is a common cause of chronic buttock pain and sciatica.1) We’ve developed 8-minute stretching exercises that can help release the tension in your piriformis muscle and relieve you of those painful symptoms. All you need is our Midi Massage Ball. If you’d like to start exercising, scroll down and follow along with our video or follow the step-by-step instructions. To learn more about piriformis syndrome, keep reading.
What You Should Know About Piriformis Syndrome
The piriformis is a glute muscle. One end of the piriformis is attached to the sacrum (a triangular-shaped bone between your hips) and the other to the greater trochanter (a rounded protrusion at the top of your thighbone.) The piriformis has a full to-do list; the muscle is involved in almost every movement our lower body makes. The piriformis allows us to rotate our hips outward and move our thighs from side to side. The muscle stabilizes our hips when we stand, walk, or run. The sciatic nerve — the largest in our body — is attached to the sacrum and runs under the piriformis down our thighs. The nerve branches off at the knees and continues into our feet. If the piriformis muscle becomes irritated, inflamed, or spasms, it affects the sciatic nerve. A compressed sciatic nerve can cause tingling, pain, numbness, or burning in your buttock or hip. The pain may shoot from your lower back down the back of your leg. Sitting or climbing stairs may trigger or intensify the pain.
The following can cause inflammation of the piriformis muscle:
- Sitting for long periods.
- Running or squatting.
- Sports or exercises that require lunging.
- Using improper technique when lifting heavy objects.
- An injury to your buttocks, hips, or legs.
Piriformis syndrome can occur in one buttock or both.
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Your Personal Pain Scale
While you are exercising, pay attention to your personal pain scale. This is your body's gauge that measures the intensity at which you exercise from 1 to 10.
One would be like pushing your finger into your forehead. You'd feel a little pressure, but that's it. You've gone above a 10 if your breathing becomes irregular or you feel yourself tense up. For each exercise, aim for an intensity between 8 and 9. If you find that you are experiencing pain that's higher than 9, reduce the intensity so you can continue exercising without pain.
PIRIFORMIS ROUTINE
Exercise 1: Supine Piriformis Stretch
The Glute Stretch may trigger symptoms of piriformis syndrome; this is normal. Stretch at an intensity that you can sustain.
- Lie on your back with your knees bent at a 90° angle.
- Cross your left foot over your right knee.
- Reach both hands behind your right thigh. Gently pull your leg toward your chest until you feel an intense stretch in your glute muscles. Hold.
- When you notice the intensity of the stretch has decreased, pull your leg closer to your chest.
- Hold for 2 to 2.5 minutes.
- Slowly come out of the position and repeat on the other leg.
Exercise 2: Glute Foam Roll Massage
For this exercise, you’ll need our Midi Massage Ball.
- Sit with your left buttock on the Midi Massage Ball.
- Bend your right leg to maintain your balance. The more body weight you place on the ball, the more intense your massage will be.
- Roll your buttock around the Midi Massage Ball. When you find a sensitive spot, increase the pressure, rolling the area until the tension is released.
- Continue rolling your buttock, looking for other sensitive spots.
- Roll for about 2 minutes.
- Finish, and repeat on your right buttock.
Get Your Butt in Gear.
Perform our piriformis stretch 6 days a week and leave one day for rest.
Fight Pain with Information.
Subscribe to The Pain Relief Advisor
Sign up for our free newsletter and discover how to manage your pain yourself. Every two weeks, we’ll deliver follow-along videos and articles to your inbox.
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Sources & Studies
- ↑1 Koh, E., Webster, D., & Boyle, J. (2020). Case report and review of the potential role of the Type A piriformis muscle in dynamic sciatic nerve entrapment variant of piriformis syndrome. Surgical and radiologic anatomy : SRA, 42(10), 1237–1242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02440-8.