Trigger Points: Piriformis

Video Transcript

DR. CHRIS MANGO: Hi. This is Dr. Chris Mango here in New York City. On behalf of Expert Village, we're going to be taking a look at trigger points today. So, welcome to the lower extremities. We're going to be going over the different muscle groups in the lower extremities and the referral patterns from dysfunction of these muscles. The first one we'll be starting with is the piriformis. It runs from the lateral side of the sacrum to the top of the hip. When there's dysfunction in this muscle, this is how the pain can present in the back of the leg. So this first muscle, the piriformis, is responsible for external rotation of the hip. Now, we'll show you how to treat the trigger point. So to find the muscle, we intersect the distance from the bottom of the sacrum to the hip, right in here, the trigger point which will be tender, then you just press and hold. Now just have the patient breathe normally, and after about 10 seconds, she won't feel it any more. Increase your pressure again slightly more.