Piriformis

Looks like

A pear-shaped muscle deep in the buttock, from the front of the sacrum to the top of the thigh bone, lying over the sciatic nerve.

What it does

Turns the thigh outwards and steadies the hip.

Keeping it well

Tightness may irritate the sciatic nerve, but most sciatica comes from the spine. Leg weakness or numbness needs assessment of the back.

Its parts

• Right piriformis
• Left piriformis

Related conditions

• Botulism
• Chronic venous insufficiency
• Fibromyalgia
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis)
• Lymphoedema
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Muscular dystrophy
• Piriformis syndrome
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Restless legs syndrome
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Tetanus
• Varicose veins