Andie MacDowell revealed she was recently diagnosed with Piriformis syndrome. However, with her “miracle” treatment, the actress has been able to make a remarkable recovery.
“It’s a muscle that’s, kind of clamps down on my sciatic nerve and it was shooting down my leg. I thought I was gonna have to have hip replacement. Thank God my hips are fine,” MacDowell, 66, said during her Thursday appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” per video obtained by Daily Mail.
Piriformis syndrome causes pain or numbness in the buttocks and down the back of the leg, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It occurs when the piriformis muscle spasms and compresses the sciatic nerve.
For treatment, the “Groundhog Day” star works with a personal trainer to address the pain.
“I have to work my tiny little bottom and my hips. I have to work the bottom and work my hip. I just do it every day,” she said, adding that her condition “doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“It’s a miracle, it really is,” MacDowell told the host.
The actress — who has long been vocal about being comfortable with aging — also shared an update on her personal life, sharing that she left Hollywood for South Carolina where she lives “in a community that has a lot of people my age” so she has an “easier” time making friends.
“I like to eat, but I do love to work out. That is my great fortune because I have had friends that are frustrated because they don’t enjoy it, but I really do enjoy it,” she said.
MacDowell continued, adding that her routine Peloton workouts left her with “bad knees and a bad hip” which originally made her think she “literally falling apart like I was gonna have to get new pieces.”
“But the good news is my pieces are fine. My knees are good except for like aging. They’ve aged. I’m working out really hard now doing PT I’m not falling apart. Well, thank God.”
In May 2023, MacDowell spoke with People about why she “doesn’t feel less sexy” as she gets older, saying that she feels women should be discussed with terms like “debonair” as people approach conversations about aging.
“I like all the terms we use for older men,” she said. “I want to hold onto those terms. I want to be debonair. Why not? What a beautiful term.”
The Golden Globe winner told the outlet she feels society has “been brainwashed” into thinking that men age better than women.
“it’s a psychological thing that we’ve bought into because we’ve been fed it for so long,” she said, adding that women “don’t allow ourselves to feel good about ourselves and we even perceive [older men] as sexy, because we’ve been taught this.”
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