Do This Trick & Your Sciatic Nerve Will Thank You!

-


What's A Piriformis? And Why Does It Need Releasing?

Tammara working on releasing piriformis tightness

If you've ever had a pain in your gluteus muscles (three buttocks muscles) that felt deep and possibly radiated down your outer thigh towards your knee and beyond, your piriformis might need to be released. It might surprise you to know that releasing this muscle can often help low back pain as well!

The piriformis muscle is a small muscle that if too tight can cause large problems. It is located under the gluteus and can be difficult to reach for treatment. The reason it is so important to be able to treat this area, is it's proximity to the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve does not like to be crowded out by tight muscle. So, if your piriformis is squeezing your sciatic nerve that is near by, that nerve will trigger pain to let it be know that it isn't happy. If that pain is ignored, it becomes worse and will eventually work it's way down the path of the sciatic nerve all the way down to your toes!

There are many ways for these muscles to become overly tight. On one end of the spectrum is overuse. Often runners and cyclist will regularly struggle with this condition. Especially if they are not consistently stretching these muscle after workouts. On the other end of the spectrum is sitting all day.  Many people that have desk jobs deal with some of the same problems that the athletes do, but for a very different reason. Prolonged sitting literally smashes the piriformis, which has the same outcome on the sciatic nerve - irritation. That is one of the reasons standing desks and other devices are becoming more popular in office settings.

By releasing the tension and tightness of the piriformis,  the irritation that the sciatic nerve is experiencing is also released. The trick is figuring out how to get past the big, thick gluteus muscles to reach the small, hidden piriformis muscle. In the above photo, you can see a technique that moves the gluteus out of the way and allows the therapist to apply pressure to work loose the tightness underneath.  This technique is also a needed stretch for all muscles involved. The combination of the massage of the piriformis and the stretching maneuver feels amazing and often provides immediate relief!  Sometimes it takes time for the sciatic nerve to calm down once it has been released. Like some people you might know, nerves can hold a grudge for a while. So, be patient and with continued light stretches and taking it easy with activities that irritate, eventually the pain will completely go away. Ask your therapist for some stretches that you can do at home.

When your gluteus muscles are overly tight, another unpleasant situation that can arise is lower back pain. Often this discomfort isn't necessarily directly a problem in the low back area. It is often due to tightness in the hip area throwing off the proper body mechanics and therefore stressing the lower back area. By releasing the gluteus muscles, the lower back will also feel an improvement.


San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club
4848 Tecolote Road
San Diego, CA. 92110
 Appointments (619) 295-3516 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Got Shoulder Pain? Don't be surprised if your massage therapist starts working on your neck.

-
Image
When pain is felt between the shoulder blades, it would be assumed that there is a problem somewhere in that area, but it could actually be coming from your neck area. Knowing where the pain originates from can help in formulating a treatment plan to alleviate discomfort. Better yet, knowing how the problem started, can help the pain from developing to begin with. Nerves: The Struggle is Real Pain is caused by the nerves becoming entrapped within tight muscles. The area around the neck and shoulders is especially prone to entrapment due to the crowded nerves that run from the neck area down into the scapular (shoulder) area. They twist and turn in tight spaces around and through muscles that run along your spine from the base of your skull down into your shoulder area.  When the muscles become tight and inflamed they further compress and crowd the nerves. That causes the nerves to become grumpy. The grumpiness runs all the way down to the muscles between your shoulder blades. ...
Read more

Mindful Relaxation in a Covid-19 World

-
Image
The positive impact that stress management has on your health is well worth the effort! Many people depend on massage therapy to work out their aches and pains and to bring them to a state of relaxation. During this Covid-19 era there has been a heightened sense of anxiety and stress and a lack of ability to continue our normal routines of self care that we desire and that we need. As we've discussed in past articles, there are multiple ways to self-massage to calm muscle tension. Although nothing compares to the hands and skills of  a professional body-worker, some relief can be found through self-massage care. As you break out the tennis balls and foam rollers to work out your knots, don't neglect the importance that mindful relaxation has on your health. The benefits are bountiful and lasting! Some mistakenly understand the pursuit of relaxation practices, including massage therapy, to be only a thing of luxury, something that is decadent, a treat to be h...
Read more

Fascia's Role in Stiffness, Tightness & Pain

-
Image
What is Fascia? Fascia is the connective tissue that literally holds the entire body together. Imagine a whole roasting chicken that you would find at your grocery store. If you were to pull up on the skin of the chicken, you would see a substance that is attached underneath the skin and also to the muscle beneath it. It is clear, thin and sticky. This is the fascia. How the fascia becomes damaged  and what happens when the fascia is damaged Plantar fasciitis: Plantar, being the bottom of the foot and fasci itis (any word with "itis" at the end of it, means that something is inflamed and irritated).  Put those two together and you have a recipe for very uncomfortable pain that can often takes weeks or months to rehabilitate. If you have ever experienced plantar fasciitis, you have unfortunately become acquainted with damaged fascia. This is just one common example of how the fascia can play a role in contributing to our various aches and pains.  W...
Read more