Yahoo Lifestyle Andie MacDowell Shares ‘Miracle’ Health Update as She Unveils Painful New Diagnosis
Andie MacDowell is feeling grateful she never had to have the hip replacement surgery she was anticipating.
The Groundhog Day actress opened up about a painful diagnosis she recently received and the "miracle" that a little physical therapy has done for her.
While sitting down with Drew Barrymore on her talk show of the same name, MacDowell, 66, revealed she suffers from piriformis syndrome, an often-painful condition where the piriformis muscle, located behind your glutes, compresses the sciatic nerve. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it can lead to pain or numbness throughout your butt, hip, and/or upper leg areas and can be caused by injury, swelling, muscle spasms, or scar tissue in the area.
In MacDowell's case, it was "shooting down [her] leg," leading to the fear that something was wrong with her hip. The actress opened up about doing "the Peloton like a crazy person" and learning that "it's not appropriate for [her] body" after she "ended up with bad knees and a bad hip."
"I thought I was literally falling apart—like I was gonna have to get new pieces," she recalled.
Thankfully, that wasn't the case, and with the assistance of a personal trainer to "work the bottom and work [her] hip...every day," she no longer feels the pain.
"...the good news is my pieces are fine," she added, outside of the typical effects of aging. "I'm working out really hard now doing [physical therapy]. I'm not falling apart."
"It's a miracle, it really is," she told Barrymore
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