Which muscle hurts?

[Nick Wilson]

Hi all,

I have been trying to loosen my hips and have been learning new poses to do this (pigeon and double pigeon particularly) but have developed some pain in both 'hips' and cant through googling work out which muscles i've hurt/over-stretched...

Here's where it hurts:

about 2inches under the top of my pelvis, on the side of my buttocks running running down to the bit of the top leg that sticks out a bit (in line with the sitting bones).

Can anyone work out what that is and suggest any help?

thanks!

[Nichole]

It sounds like your piriformis muscle. Take a peek at the wiki illustrations to see if this is what you are feeling--palpating helps to be sure in our heavily muscled hips. Piriformis muscle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If it is the piriformis, you'll want to use care and take your time in stretching, because for most people, the sciatic nerve bifurcates the piriformis. You can create sciatica by irritating this muscle which then impinges or irritates the sciatic.

[Nick Wilson]

Yes Im quite familiar with the piriformis now as I have sciatica and low back issues and have been working to stretch those muscles to see if my sciatica is coming from there rather than a disc herniation. The reason I'm not so sure it's the piriformis is that the pain runs about 6 inches down the side of the buttock just behind the hip, and the piriformis runs across not lengthways right?

thanks Nicole

[InnerAthlete]

Just curious, who has recommended the two poses you mention as remedy for sciatica, low back pain, and a potentially herniated disc?

[Nick Wilson]

Nobody. My hips just hurt a lot, and I get deep pain in the buttocks which may suggest piriformis syndrome so i've been working on hips and core in an effort to start from the bottom and work up as it were...