My mother complained of increased hip and pelvic pain and had been experiencing a notable decrease in both her mobility and quality of life. She rued the fact that this might be her new normal, but I had a hunch. After performing a series of tests on her, I deduced that she didn’t have advancing arthritis and that she didn’t demonstrate overt muscular weakness. She was, in fact, quite robust in her strength, balance, and endurance. She just had to contend with elevated levels of pain during movement.
Her pain was in her piriformis muscles. The bad news is that tight, painful piriformis muscles can wreak havoc on your quality of life. However, the great news is that there are many exercises that focus directly on the piriformis muscles and help rehabilitate them.
