Exercises not involving the lower back

Seffell
Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Six months ago I got sciatica and it is not going away. The health service in the UK is excruciatingly slow so I haven't really had any help so far and I'm still waiting while popping painkillers (as advised by a GP). I can't walk or stand and I'm in constant pain.
I'm doing some sciatica exercises but this is not what I'm asking about here.

I'm looking for exercises which do not involve any pressure on the lower back at all. I find it very difficult to find any. Even stretching the resistance band for biceps feels on my back. Also it has to be not standing up as I can't without long painful consequences. I would really like to do some exercise at home of any form. (preferably without equipment as I only have a resistance band with handles). Is there anything at all?
Also in my case of sciatica the pain is greater when my back arches as opposed to bending which is not as painful. So, for example, the exercises for butt on all fours where you lift your bent legs behind - I can't do these types due to the arching tendency of the back.

Thanks.

P.S. Please don't advise me to ask my physio as it is frustrating - here it takes months in the best case to even reach the physio for one appointment. My next appointment is after a month. The previous was in November... Meanwhile I can't even stand for long enough to wash the dishes.

Oh, this might be important. I'm 158lbs, 5'7, 35 years old.

Replies

  • betzd189
    betzd189 Posts: 41 Member
    Hi, i used to have what you do, if you have access to a swimming pool that is the best way to exercise and move your muscles without the impact. Water arobics when your able to.
  • pernajack
    pernajack Posts: 7 Member
    Perhaps learning proper abdominal bracing could help you. Something as easy as high planks for time would be a good starting point. If you trains the muscles that oppose lower back arching you'll be able to better stabilize your spine and stay out the the range of motion that causes pain.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,329 Member
    There are not really that many, that is why core issues cause such problems. You have your stretches which I assume were give to you by your doctor, you should probably focus on them as you wait. Perhaps google might give you some idea of other exercises that might help for sciatica since dealing with that is the most important thing right now and until it is dealt with other exercise other than something like water exercises will be out.
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    Oh, god. I feel your pain! Literally! It took two years of physical therapy agony and cortisone shots and slowly increasing pain meds before my doctor would finally refer me to a surgeon, and even that took my chiro and my pt writing him letters saying "We've done all we can." My surgeon called me in the week after my MRI, and asked twice if I was Elizabeth. "Yes, I'm Elizabeth." "I have to show you something..." he said very quietly. He led me into the back of his office and showed me the images from my MRI.
    He pointed at the image and said, "I don't understand how you're walking. I thought you'd be in a wheelchair. This is the worst herniation I've ever seen in my 15 years as a spinal surgeon."
    I burst into tears because I finally felt I was talking to someone who understood how much pain I was in.

    Anyway, enough of my whining.

    Do your PT sciatica exercises, ice before and after (and if you can get your hands on a TENS unit, use it! That was the ONLY thing that cut the nerve pain.)

    Yes, resistance bands are some of the best 'weight training' that you can do, because they only add weight to the muscle, not the spine. If you're hurting your back using them, go the lightest, easiest size you can find, because your muscles are probably too weak currently to keep the weight off your spine.

    Swimming is what kept me sane in the three months waiting for surgery. (I had to wean off the diclofenac before surgery, which was the other only thing keeping me sane...) Swim slowly, use a kickboard so that you can keep your spine straight instead of twisting to breathe, or use a backstroke.

    Isometric exercises are also very good- there are some great youtube videos out there for isometrics for people with lower back issues.
  • rsenor
    rsenor Posts: 57 Member
    If you can get your hands on the P90x3 videos there is a series called Dynamix and another called Isometrix, both of which are that is really wonderful and easy on the back. Some is on the ground and some is standing. About the first 15 minutes of Dynamix is done on the ground and I find if my back is tweaky (I have old sciatica that flares up now and again) it really helps.

    Also if you have access to accupuncture at all that helped me over my sciatica (and more recently shingles) amazingly.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
    Thanks everyone for the responses! :)

    I'm checking the Isometrix and Dynamix exercises now. I'll see if I can do any of them.

    @ElizabethOakes2 Thanks for sharing. I hope this will happen to me too. I mean that they will decide to give me an MRI and figure out what is wrong with me. Did you get a surgery for the hernia?
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    I did indeed. It turned out that the MRI didn't even show how bad it was. The herniation was so old that it had built scar-tissue around it, and had calcified to my tendons and muscle-tissue. My spine was degrading from having no disc to pad it. The surgery should have taken under an hour, but my surgeon spent almost two hours picking slivers of spine bones and chunks of calcification out of my muscles and tendons. I have (most likely) permanent nerve damage down my left side where the compression from the herniation killed the nerves, though more of my sensation in my foot, leg, and hip has returned than my surgeon thought was possible.

    My surgeon's medical team is using my case study in a paper they're working on that will help promote imaging earlier in the back-pain process rather than later.
    It's absolutely true that a good many spinal herniations heal themselves without surgery, and a good many people have multiple herniations that heal without them ever being aware that they have a problem. Sometimes, just the lower spine stretches, ice, and rest fix any problems even after nerve pain is severe. In my case, mine never going to repair itself- it was too severe.

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