Why does the piriformis muscle become tight, causing sciatica?
The main reason the piriformis can become tight is mostly due to a weakness in the main hip extensor, the gluteus maximus, which is mainly a result of sitting too much. (Please refer to another article called “Low Back Pain: What can you do about it” for more information.) When we sit a lot, the gluts are neurologically “turned off” by the brain, because they are not being used throughout most of the day. When the gluts have been “turned off”, the hip extension firing order becomes altered. The reason this is significant is because when the gluts no longer do their job, other muscles pick up the slack. Because they have to work harder and more often, they become chronically tight. A few muscles which have been identified in this situation are the low back muscles, the hamstrings and the hip external rotators, such as the piriformis. This is main mechanism by which many people end up with lower back pain and sciatica; these are also the people that end up being told they have a disc her
