Gluteus Muscles or Buttock Area
Buttock pain and posterior hip pain are widespread and can be caused by a variety of disorders. When your gluteus or buttock muscles and the piriformis muscle, a hip rotator located underneath the gluteus muscles are tight and tired, they can cause discomfort and pain in the body.
The gluteus muscles are a group of muscles that make up the buttock area. The glute muscles include the gluteus medius, at the back and top of the hips and the gluteus minimus, also at the back and just below the gluteus medius, as well as the gluteus maximus – the biggest muscle in the body lying over the other glute muscles and the hip rotator muscles. The piriformis is one of the six hip rotator muscles lying horizontally underneath the glute muscles and over the sciatic nerve.
Some issues caused by tight glutes and piriformis:
- Sore lower back and hamstrings
- Poor balance and posture, which can lead to other issues in the body
- Shooting nerve pain down your leg and sometimes in the heel, due to sciatica (your sciatic nerve shoots underneath your piriformis).
Stretch therapy can stretch and strengthen the glutes and piriformis as well as the other muscles and soft connective tissues in the deep gluteal space to treat and prevent the issues mentioned above.
We will always advise you to see a stretch therapist before commencing any of our recommended home exercises. Still, they are suitable for maintaining a body structure that has been balanced and mobilized with a program of stretch therapy. Watch the link below to stretch the piriformis muscle.