sciatic nerve pain

ChristieNJFitnessAddict

I recently discovered that I have a sciatic nerve issue. I've been looking for the motivation to help me get back on track and lose the weight and it appears it's been answered. I feel like the pain is getting worse rather than better. So far I've lost about 3 lbs and I've been eating healthy. I've been trying to force myself to do some walking and I've been using a heating pad. I've been taking a aleve, flaxseed oil pills to help. It just seems like it's not helping anymore. Does anyone have any low cost affective ways to help alleviate the pain and how long this usually lasts for.

Thank you in advance,

Christie

sophomorelove

Oh, so sorry to hear that! I had that in the second half of my pregnancy, and it was exacerbated by the weight gain. To help relieve the pain I took warm baths and also massaged the painful area around the tailbone (by hands or by laying on your back, lifting your legs up and rolling it out clockwise and CCW). Yoga (with a good instructor) helped me find relieving stretches, too. Good luck!

DaddieCat

I was going to suggest yoga and massage as well.

I have sciatica from an overly tight piriformis. Yoga with a focus on increasing the length (duration) and depth of each stretch has helped immensely... as has deep tissue massage and thai yoga massage (a form of massage that incorporates assisted stretches)

I've been working at this for about a year and it's subsided greatly... not gone.. but lessening ever day.

auddii

So, I've been lazy and have been putting this off, but I get sciatic pain after squats, so I've given up lifting for now. But it's not getting better on its own, and although it's getting aggravated less since I stopped squatting, I'm not pain free.

So, I plan on starting this stretching up in a few weeks and then hopefully I can get back to lifting (I miss it so much!):
http://www.elitefts.com/education/rehab-recovery/coping-with-sciatica/

adoette

I'll be honest, depending on what's causing the pain, it may get worse before it gets better.

I broke my back about 15 years ago, which is where my problem comes from. Exercise helps, after a while, because it strengthens the muscles surrounding the problem area to help support it better. But while I'm firming up my core (I've done this before) it irritates the area and I get more flare ups.

The good news is that the flare ups calm down once you've reached a certain level of improvement. Talk to your doctor about specific exercises and stretches you can do to help with the pain. They tend to be pretty low key for both, and will often soothe the area (the stuff I'm doing is more long term since my problem is unfixable).

ChristieNJFitnessAddict

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions. I'm just too overweight to even feel like yoga is effective. I did try some of the low key exercises and they were painful but I feel a slight better like I can walk a couple of yards further than I've been able to currently. I can't stand not being able to do a lot of walking and also fast walking. I can't wait to get back to the gym and my normal routine.

RainaProske

My sciatica kicked in, but I think mine is not as bad as most people's. I like to use Ibuprofen and the inverter when I'm having trouble.