exercising with sciatica

makinemjellis

I've been dealing with what I believe is some sciatic nerve pain the last week. I'm going to a chiro on Monday to get check out and have used this whole week as a rest period but would like to start upping my activity again. I'm assuming my usual weight lifting schedule is probably not a good idea so I'm looking for alternatives. My gym doesn't have a stationary bike or pool and I don't live in a climate that is suitable for much outdoor activity this time of the year.

I know a lot of what I can do is likely going to depend on my visit on Monday but I'd just like a few other suggestions as well.

TIA

Teabythesea_

I don't think many people here can or should advise certain activity considering there are many things that can cause sciatic nerve pain. A slipped/herniated disk, piriformis or other muscle injury, sacroiliac/sacrum injury, etc. What you can and cant do is going to depend entirely on what the actual culprit of the nerve pain is. I would simply wait until you see the doctor. While I won't give exercise recommendations, I will recommend seeing a physiotherapist as well. They tend to be more helpful in the way of exercise and muscle related injuries, if that is what it is.

MichelleSilverleaf

I would advise against the chiro, they're largely unregulated and personal experience one ruined my mother's back and made her sciatic pain worse (she also had two other conditions that went unnoticed by the chiro because it didn't occur to her to do any kind of scans to see what she was actually dealing with). Physio/PT would be better, there are exercises that can be done but a PT would be better able to guide you through them.

Johnd2000

I had 4 years of chronic sciatica, due to a bulging disk at L4/5. The only exercise that didn’t make it worse was gentle walking and generally standing as much as possible.

Physio therapy resulted in a split disk that put me on my back for 4 months and required 2 operations to fix

Be very careful. Generally, bouts of sciatica will get better in 3-12 weeks, unless there’s an ongoing disk issue.

fandslock22

Glad to see this post on Sciatica pain. The information was helpful and scary😆I Am having the same ussues... Doc and physio agree it is L4 and L5 compression. 4 weeks ago I picked up my dog and boom...Terrible pain in my butt and down my leg. You all know what I am talking about. Now I am off work. I thought I would be in less pain by now... kind of depressing. I am focusing on getting well. I decided not to drug my self with sugar...which I have done in the past when i was in pain. Down 9 lbs since my injury. 🙂

Talan79

You should probably see an orthopedic.

angelsja

For me personally my sciatica gets worse with exercise BUT if I continue with it it gets better I just have to get through the initial pain first it won't be the same for everyone just putting it out there

BarbellCowgirl

I went to a chiro for mild sciatica. He told me it was Piriformis syndrome and encouraged me to keep working out. Many hundreds of dollars, several months, and a load of bro science later, it was 10X worse and I finally had an MRI. Bulging disc at L4/L5 that took multiple rounds of injections to heal at that point.
Proceed very, very carefully. I was physically miserable, in pain 24hours a day, for 2 years of my life because I didn’t get the appropriate treatment in the beginning.

manderson27

This is my usual advice for anyone with back related pain.

Go see your doctor, get a proper diagnosis for your pain, then you will be in a better place to know what exercise will help and what could hinder your recovery.

fandslock22

Thanks for the advice. YUP I have bulging discs at L4 and L5. My physio therapist advice is if something hurts don't push it. Trying to keep active but only can walk or stand for 5 minutes. Been like this for 1 month. So motivated to lose weight right now because of the pain.