Ohhh! Hey everybody, it's Doctor Jo, and today I'm gonna show you some stretches and exercises
for piriformis syndrome. It's literally a pain in the mutt, I mean butt. Let's get started.
The first two stretches I'm gonna show you are modified stretches. The best way to do
them is lying down, but sometimes you just don't have time to lie down, maybe you're
at work and you want to stretch out, or maybe you aren't comfortable lying down on the ground.
So just seated in a chair, take the leg of the side that you want to stretch, so if it's
my left side, I'm gonna cross it over into a figure 4 position. So if I'm looking down,
I see the number 4. You're gonna feel that stretch right on that bottom area there, and
if this isn't quite enough, try and keep your back straight, and just bend forward at your
hips. And right about there I can feel just on my bottom right where I'm sitting, the
stretch. And that's where that piriformis stretch is. So if you need even more, some
people will kind of take their leg a little bit and then pull towards them. And just hold
that stretch for about 30 seconds, come back up and then do that 3 times. Then the next
one is crossing the knee over to the opposite shoulder. So this time still almost in that
figure 4 position except you don't bring the knee down. You take your opposite hand and
pull that knee up towards the opposite side. So again, I feel that stretch in that piriformis
area. But it changes just a little bit so it's right here verses maybe at the bottom.
Again holding that for about 30 seconds. Some people kind of like to come in and hug it,
and then relax and do that 3 times as well. So now I'm gonna show you the versions on
the ground and some exercises as well. So now I'm gonna show you the same 2 stretches
lying down. So just lie down on the ground. Prop both knees up. Be nice and relaxed, and
the same thing, you're gonna go into that figure 4 position where you take the side
you want to stretch and cross it over where your ankle is just right above your knee.
Now this time instead of bringing your body up, you're gonna bring your legs to you. So
take your hands and grab the other side just below the knee and pull it towards you. So
again, I'm feeling that stretch right on that bottom area right there. And you want to hold
that for 30 seconds, relax and then do that 3 times. Then the knee to the opposite shoulder,
still in this position, this time take that right hand, and pull it over towards the right
shoulder. Your leg doesn't necessarily have to stay on the other one. If you're a little
more flexible, you can bring it all the way up and over, or even slightly hug it. But
it's not straight up, it's over at an angle. And again, this time it's a little bit lower
of a stretch, but you're still stretching that piriformis area. Holding that for 30
seconds and then coming back down and doing that 3 times. So now for some exercises.You're
gonna roll over onto your side. Bring your knees together and bent. You want your hips
to be perpendicular to the ground. You're gonna do a clam shell now. So with the clam
shell, a lit of time your hips are gonna want to roll back, but try and keep it nice and
straight, up and down, and just take that top leg and lift it up. So it doesn't have
to go high cause if you go real high, you're gonna want to roll back. And if you're having
a hard time keeping your hips up and down, you can put your back against a wall and then
bring it up. So just nice and slow up and come back down. And that's working those glutes
and that piriformis area back there. So these are a little tougher than they look. Just
start off with 10 - 15 of them. And then you can work your way up to 20 - 25. If that becomes
easy, you can take a little ankle weight and put it around your thigh, or you can take
a resistive band and wrap it around your legs and then again lifting up. THe next exercise
is gonna be a side plank. So this time, you're gonna straighten out your legs. Make sure
your elbow is pretty close underneath your shoulder. Pretty much in alignment. The legs
are nice and straight, so they're not up this way. And you're just gonna come up trying
to be in as much of a straight line as you can. And just start off with about 10 seconds,
come back down, try to work your way up to 30 seconds to a minute. If that's too hard
to start off with, you can just go at your knees and come up and start off with this
and work your way up. And once that becomes easy, then you can go back to straight leg
and then come all the way up. With the side you want to work towards the ground. And then
the last exercise is gonna be over on your stomach. So this time, the side that you want
to work, you're gonna bend your knee up where your foot is towards the ceiling. And then
just lift it up and slowly come back down. Now try and keep your hips level on the ground.
Sometimes people kind of want to roll and come up, but really try and keep them down
on the ground and just lift that thigh up off the ground, and slowly come back down.
So again, just start off with about 10 - 15, and then work your way up to 20 - 25. If that
becomes easy, then you can put a little bit of an ankle weight, 1 - 2 pounds, around your
ankle. And then start back over. So those were your stretches and exercises for piriformis
syndrome. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section. If you'd like
to check out some other videos, go to AskDoctorJo.com Don't forget to like us. And remember, be
safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.