To answer last weeks question, the smallest unit of a contractile muscle is a Sarcomere! Good job to everyone to got it correct! I chose that knowing I wanted to talk about piriformis syndrome this week.
Sorry it took so long to get this blog up had a busy week turning in my grad school application and had a couple papers to write. On to this week... the Piriformis!
Piriformis:
Origin: Sacrum
Insertion: Greater trochanter of the femur
Innervation: L5-S2
Action: Lateral Rotation of the hip
That person who you’re always blaming for that sharp
pain in your behind may be owed an apology. According to Dr Loren Fishman, “about 5 million of the 26 million Americans
who suffer from low back pain each year have piriformis syndrome.” Piriformis
Syndrome is becoming quite the pain… literally. The Piriformis is part of the
muscle group responsible for lateral rotation of the thigh. It originates on
the pelvic surface of the sacrum and inserts into the superior border of the
greater trochanter of the femur. Curving adjacent to the Piriformis is the
Sciatic Nerve, when these two are getting along you are a happy camper. If the
Piriformis and Sciatic Nerve get tangled up, you are in pain and this is what
happens during piriformis syndrome.
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When muscles are overused or strained they can
become targets of their own innervations. They receive nerve impulse after
nerve impulse which can cause the muscles to contract over themselves forming a
knot. This happening in the Piriformis can pinch or lock in the Sciatic Nerve
causing severe pain radiating on your lower back, deep in your buttocks and
down your legs.
The good news is that most people suffering from
piriformis syndrome do not need any surgical interventions. Chiropractic,
physical therapy, home stretching and yoga can relieve the pain of piriformis syndrome
by elongating the Piriformis allowing the muscle to get back to its normal
position. Dr. Loren Fishman advises that the above remedies have aided
in the success of 80 percent of the patients she’s seen with piriformis
syndrome.
A good way to prevent piriformis syndrome, or any
other muscle related injury for that matter, is to stretch. Stretching is just
as important of a component in regular exercise as cardio and strength training
are!
If you have a job that requires you to sit a lot
make a habit of taking breaks to get up and walk around, while you’re walking
around stretch some, every little bit helps.
Before you start hitting the gym hard, go see a
chiropractor. If your body is out of alignment (most of ours are!) you could
sustain serious injuries that hinder your ability to do things later on in
life. Prevention is important in injuries like piriformis syndrome, the
smallest thing like stretching or obtaining an adjustment could save you a
world of pain.
Various yoga poses can help stretch out the hips and
low back, a few of my favorites are:
- · Child’s Pose
- · Happy Baby
- · Downward Facing Dog
- · Upward Facing Dog
- · Cobra Pose
Different stretches you could do to prevent or treat
piriformis syndrome include:
- · laying on the floor, crossing one leg over the other at the knee and pushing out on the bent leg at the knee area slightly or bring the leg with the foot on the floor closer to your body.
- · You can also lie down in the supine position, have one leg straight while the other is bent, externally rotate the bent leg towards the ground next to you without lifting yourshoulders off the floor.
- · Another stretch you could do is to sit with one leg stretched straight behind you while the other is bent in front of you, lean forwards to obtain a deep stretch in the hip muscles.
- You can also sit in a chair (make sure to sit tall, no slouching) cross your leg so your ankle is at the other legs knee, use your muscles to pull bent knee down towards ground so its flat and lean your torso forward till you feel a pull.
Strong abdominal muscles also help with back pain.
Pelvis tilts and bridges will help tilt your pelvis to ensure your pelvis and
hips are aligned and help stretch out your lower back. Abdominal crunches, leg
lifts and planks will help to strengthen the abdominals which help support the
back muscles.
While it’s always easy to blame your annoying
co-worker or pesky sibling for that pain in the buttocks you’ve been having, it’s
much easier nip it in the butt (I know it’s bud but butt is so fitting!) and
consult a doctor, chiropractor or physical therapist regarding your ongoing
pain.
Question for next week! (No Google... or Bing!)
Which of the following is NOT part of the Rotator Cuff?
A. Teres Minor
B. Infraspinatus
C. Supraspinatus
D. Teres Major
E. Supscapularis
