Exercising with constant Sciatica Pain?

Beautifylgirl

Ok so I'm 25 yrs old, 5'2" and wiegh around 150 lbs give or take 5lbs and I have chronic Sciatic Nerve pain. I have been to physical therapy off and on for years and most likely my pain is due to various injuries and physical make up. I was wondering who else suffers from Sciatica and what types of exercises do you do that don't aggrivate it even more. I try my best to wear my Compression brace as often as possible but even that doesn't help all the time. Any suggestions would be great because I know that my hip felt so much better when I weighed less.
Thank you!
Brittany

fitterpam

I sympathize with you completely. It's not something that I want to go through. I had bad bouts of sciatica a few years back. First and foremost, work on the stretches. If the muscles around the nerve are more in control, you'll reduce some of the pain.

Specifically the stretches my chiropractor gave me were as follows. I hold each movement for 30 secs or so and do them 3-4 x a day:
1. Stand away from the wall with your side to the wall, stick out your arm and rest your forearm against the wall, you should be able to do this standing straight. Cross your foot furthest from the wall over the other one and gently lean your hip in towards the wall. Be careful because if you go to far, you can aggrevate things. Just a slow gentle stretch - just until you feel it. Repeat for the other side.

2. Sitting in a chair bring your ankle up and rest it on your other leg. Gently push down on your knee until you feel the stretch in your hip. Repeat with the other foot.

3. Lying face down on the floor (or bed...LOL) and prop yourself up on your elbows - really focus on stretching out the lower back. This is where the sciatic nerve starts from and so if you loosen it up, you might experience less pain.

I also do aquafitt. The water provides just enough support and resistance that I get a good workout without having too much pressure on the hip joint - which is the point of pain for most sciatica (nerves being trapped in the pelvic area by muscles and bone). Now that I have better control over those muscles, I'm certainly not in constant pain anymore and am able to do other exercises (like hiking and biking and walking and rowing). I still have to be careful - I easily hurt the nerve if I over exert the muscles, but if I get into trouble, the chiropractor has learned which muscles have me in pain and can help release them so I don't get out of disjoint again.

I did the physical therapy for about 3 months and found that the chiropractor was just a better route for me. I'm still not 100% (have pain after bending, etc.) but I'm a million miles from crawling just to go to the bathroom for weeks at a time. I am at the poitn that I can undertake most physical movements, but at night, I'm still rubbing down the hip to make sure that I don't seize up in the morning and cause the pain.....

Natural

oh yes, yes, yes, i have it too. darn it! stretching and yoga helps. i also have a TENS unit that helps. exercise has actually helped A LOT, staying active. however the past few days, it's been bothering me and i thought it was just my knee, but it's not. it has cut into my running workout and i'm mad.

stretching helps, advil, heating pad for me and a TENS unit. i do go to a chiro once a month, but may need to kick that up to once a week until whatever i did to inflame it will go back down. i hope something works for you. it really is the worse pain and it sucks.

exercise though helped a lot. stretching and yoga. start slow if you're in pain, just keep moving. try not to sit for long periods of time.

ickybella

Sciatica is the worst! Anything on a balance ball is good, and lots and lots of lower back stretching. Sometimes, if I crack my lower back, the pain goes away for a while, but jumping jacks bring it right back.