Andie MacDowell reveals diagnosis with rare neuromuscular condition
Andie MacDowell gave an update on her physical health during a January 23 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show.
“I have piriformis syndrome,” the 66-year-old Maid star revealed.
Piriformis syndrome is a rare neuromuscular condition that causes pain and numbness in the butt and back of the legs. According to the American Osteopathic Association, piriformis syndrome affects about 200,000 people in the U.S. each year.
“So it’s a muscle that kind of clamps down on my sciatic nerve, and it was shooting down my leg,” MacDowell explained.
“I thought I was gonna have to have a hip replacement,” she added before admitting she continued to ride her indoor bike machine “like a crazy person” at first.
“It’s not appropriate for my body, and I ended up with bad knees and a bad hip. I thought I was literally falling apart,” the actor said.
Now, MacDowell is taking the necessary steps to relieve her condition.
“I have to work my tiny little bottom and my hips,” the Four Weddings and a Funeral star said. “I have to work the bottom and work my hip. I just do it every day.”
Thankfully, MacDowell’s muscles no longer hurt. “It’s a miracle,” she said. “The good news is my pieces are fine. My knees are good except for aging. They’ve aged.”
Despite her diagnosis and the pain she endured with it, the Ready or Not actor is at peace now that she’s left Hollywood for a simpler life in South Carolina.
“I’m happier now than I have been in a long time,” she told Barrymore. “I moved to South Carolina, and I really, I’m taking good care of myself. It took me forever.”
Moving across the country wasn’t an easy decision for MacDowell, but after her kids — Justin Qualley, 39, Rainey Qualley, 35, and The Substance star Margaret Qualley, 30 — moved out, she was more inclined to make a major life change.
“Margaret really was kinda telling me I was supposed to be having the time of my life, but I wasn’t,” the mom of three said. “But now I am. I’m having the time of my life now. It’s really good.”
MacDowell welcomed her three children with her ex-husband, Paul J Qualley. The two were married for 13 years, from 1986 to 1999.
Two years later, the Green Card lead tied the know with her second husband, Rhett Hartzog. However, her marriage with the entrepreneur didn’t last long as the pair parted ways after only three years together.
