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Low Back Pain & Sciatica - The Piriformis Muscle Can be the Cause

By: Paul Boxcer

Low Back Pain and Scaitica (where pain is felt travelling down the leg) are two different conditions. Having said that, they can be closely related with regards to their cause. One such similarity is a tight Piriformis muscle, which can be responsible for either condition.

Passing from the Sacrum to the outside of your hip, the Piriformis muscle is situated deep within your buttock. The Sciatic Nerve is also present in this region and it actually passes either through or just underneath the Piriformis muscle.

A tight Piriformis muscle will place increased stress upon the Sciatic Nerve as it passes through or underneath it, potentially aggravating the Sciatic Nerve and causing pain. On the other hand, as far as Low Back Pain is concerened, it is the constant 'tugging' upon the Sacrum, caused by the tight Piriformis muscle, which is the problem.

The Sacrum forms half of the Sacro-Iliac joint (Sacro referring to the Sacrum and Iliac referring to a specific part of the pelvis) and if the sacrum is being pulled on too much, there will be increased stresses placed across the Sacro-Iliac joint, which itself can ultimately lead to pain.

It is important I note here that Low back Pain also refers to pain from the Sacro-Iliac Joint, and not just the Lumbar Spine. The Sacro-Iliac Joint is positioned approximately where there are a couple of dimples just below your 'lower back'. If you think your pain is from this area, the likelihood is your pain is coming from your Sacro-Iliac Joint.

Moving on to Sciatica, if the 'highest' part of your pain is in the 'buttock' region, it is highly probable that a tight Piriformis muscle is responsible for your pain. You will need to stretch this muscle if this is the case.

Towards the bottom of this page, you will find an active link which will show you a couple of nice gentle stretches for the Piriformis muscle.

Massage is an excellent way of loosening up this muscle, and by using a small ball (maybe a tennis ball or something similar) this is something you can try yourself:

First of all you need to lay yourself on the floor, with your knees slightly bent. From here, place the ball underneath the appropriate buttock and gently massage your buttock against the ball, by moving your pelvis from side to side nad around in circles.

Due to the close proximity of the Sciatic Nerve to the Piriformis muscle, it is important you take care while performing this exercise. If you are too aggressive, you may simpy end up aggravating the Sciatic Nerve and therefore making your pain worse.

If you do happen to make your pain a little worse with this exercise, do not concern yourself too much. OK, so we would rather not have aggravated things, however, this increase in pain is simply your body's way of telling you that you need to slow down. This is because it is not strong enough for that particular exercise yet. Take heed of this warning and stop performing that exercise until the pain quietens back down. Once it has, gently re-introduce the same exercise, only this time try not to be quite as firm!

Making a tight Piriformis muscle more supple is essential if you are to relieve the stress being placed upon the Sciatica Nerve or Sacro-Iliac Joint. The self massage exercise given above, along with the stretches given in the link below, will help loosen this muscle and therefore lead you on the road to recovery.

Article Source: Main Articles

Start your Piriformis Stretches here.

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