exercises for sciatic nerve pain

Female_On_Fire
Female_On_Fire Posts: 104 Member
edited November 12 in Fitness and Exercise
AAAGH! Does anyone have any suggestions for specific exercise that help relieve sciatic nerve pain? Or any suggestions for relief at all??? I know it's best to keep moving. The pain is making me so grouchy I just want to bite someone's head off!

Replies

  • maasha81
    maasha81 Posts: 733 Member
    bump.
  • yoginimary
    yoginimary Posts: 6,788 Member
    http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/stretches-and-exercise-sciatic-pain-piriformis-syndrome
  • RWilliams_Fit
    RWilliams_Fit Posts: 81 Member
    yoga!!!

    Had horrible pain in my hip/side of my leg..no idea what it was , after a week went to doctors and they said it was the piriformis pressing into the sciatic nerve....

    Did yoga ONCE and i am completely healed...and continuing yoga for sure..

    Good Luck and feel better
  • alice_schmalice
    alice_schmalice Posts: 283 Member
    Yes. There is a stretch/ yoga pose or two that are wonderful for sciatic pain. Let me see if I can describe...

    Lie flat on your back, bend one knee and keep your foot on the floor. Cross your other leg over, like you would cross your legs while sitting. Leave a little space between your legs so you can reach around and grab the back of the thigh of your bent leg. Pull your bent leg toward your chest. This will stretch the hip flexors in the crossed leg. Hold for a few seconds and release. Switch legs and repeat.

    I also like the hip flexor/hip extender weight machines at the gym.

    This may not make sense the way I've explained...

    You could google search yoga poses for siatica as well
  • GibbsGirl13072
    GibbsGirl13072 Posts: 156 Member
    Yes. There is a stretch/ yoga pose or two that are wonderful for sciatic pain. Let me see if I can describe...

    Lie flat on your back, bend one knee and keep your foot on the floor. Cross your other leg over, like you would cross your legs while sitting. Leave a little space between your legs so you can reach around and grab the back of the thigh of your bent leg. Pull your bent leg toward your chest. This will stretch the hip flexors in the crossed leg. Hold for a few seconds and release. Switch legs and repeat.

    I also like the hip flexor/hip extender weight machines at the gym.

    This may not make sense the way I've explained...

    You could google search yoga poses for siatica as well

    I do that pose too. Sometimes I rotate the hip outward in that position just a little bit, and raise my head up towards my knee for a few seconds. It really gets a good stretch that way.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,994 Member
    For me, my sciatica gets worse when I DON'T exercise at all. Whenever I do back exercises (especially stiff legged deadlifts), I feel great relief.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Strange_magic
    Strange_magic Posts: 370 Member
    What I've found is my sciatica gets WORSE when I'm not exercising regularly. Now at first my body IS NOT a fan of the gym and it will act up big time.
    But stretching and some aleve and keeping with it help.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
    Yes. There is a stretch/ yoga pose or two that are wonderful for sciatic pain. Let me see if I can describe...

    Lie flat on your back, bend one knee and keep your foot on the floor. Cross your other leg over, like you would cross your legs while sitting. Leave a little space between your legs so you can reach around and grab the back of the thigh of your bent leg. Pull your bent leg toward your chest. This will stretch the hip flexors in the crossed leg. Hold for a few seconds and release. Switch legs and repeat.

    I also like the hip flexor/hip extender weight machines at the gym.

    This may not make sense the way I've explained...

    You could google search yoga poses for siatica as well

    The stretch is called the piriformis stretch. You can also utilize Pigeon and downward dog. Ibu twice a day, ice and heat each day, and if you're lucky, you can run through it after stretching. Avoid: free weight work involving hinging at the hips, and anything which can strain your lower back. Hope this helps. Oh, the piriformis, Pigeon and downward dog you may want to stay in those poses and stretches for 30-40 seconds and repeat several times.
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
    I had chronic sciatic nerve pain for over 10 years and it has completely gone away since I started strengthening my back. Hyperextensions, bent over rows, cable rows, deadlifts, etc.
  • tennisgirl444
    tennisgirl444 Posts: 57 Member
    yin yoga! and sitting on a tennis ball :-D
  • cakennedy140
    cakennedy140 Posts: 3 Member
    Depends whats causing your sciatic pain. I swear by my foam roller & tennis balls to get rid of tension in back & hips which aggravates my sciatic nerve.
  • Grnhouse
    Grnhouse Posts: 254 Member
    Female_On_Fire wrote: »
    AAAGH! Does anyone have any suggestions for specific exercise that help relieve sciatic nerve pain? Or any suggestions for relief at all??? I know it's best to keep moving. The pain is making me so grouchy I just want to bite someone's head off!

    If you are a swimmer it helps and try some gentle yoga or stretching.
  • nevermind18
    nevermind18 Posts: 16 Member
    Really helpful, thank you.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Mine was pinched by my piriformis. Lots of hip stretches...less running and much lighter deadlifts seemed to help a lot.
  • dmille2
    dmille2 Posts: 208 Member
    Dealing with piraformis/sciatica right now. I can run faster then 10min pace without pain. Seeing 3rd PT now. See a chiropractor and neurologist. Really sucks. I’m a runner and now being a lie to get my 40 mpw in is breaking me. Lots of suggestions out there. Personally when I used tennis balls and rollers it just made it worse for me. Good luck and hopefully you get back to what you love real soon.




  • Movemoreguy22
    Movemoreguy22 Posts: 386 Member
    I had to have the op in the end, worked thank God... couldn't live with that pain no more...
    I found hamstring stretching caused more pain so anything bending forward was a no no.
    Keep moving and laying flat on the floor helped... well it didn't but it eased it
  • Movemoreguy22
    Movemoreguy22 Posts: 386 Member
    Also I'm pretty sure you don't want to be rolling a tennis ball along the muscles that run along the nerve.. you will just cheese it off even more
  • bpotts44
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
    Look up the book "How to Fix Your Back and Neck Pain" by Robin Mckenzie. Excellent and helped me alot
  • jgreeneyes23
    jgreeneyes23 Posts: 16 Member
    Search Pinterest for yoga moves to help sciatica pain. Those moves have helped me immensely!!
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