During a recent visit on The Drew Barrymore Show, actress Andie MacDowell talked candidly about receiving a rare medical diagnosis.
The Four Weddings and a Funeral star revealed that she had been diagnosed with Piriformis syndrome on the show’s January 23 episode.
According to People, MacDowell, 66, stated, “I have piriformis syndrome, which is a muscle that kind of clamps down on my sciatic nerve, and it was shooting down my leg.”
She went on, “Thank God, my hips are fine. I thought I was going to have to have a hip replacement.”
I need to work on my hips and my little butt. I need to work on both my hip and bottom. “I just do it every day,” she said, describing her recovery as a miracle and adding that it no longer hurts.
The National Institutes of Health states that piriformis syndrome is an uncommon neuromuscular disorder that arises when the sciatic nerve is compressed by the piriformis muscle in the buttocks.
The buttocks may be painful, hurting, tingly, or numb, and they may hurt when walking, running, climbing stairs, or sitting for extended periods of time.
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Chris Mautner