Odd things that help sciatica pain?

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TheMissingSock
TheMissingSock Posts: 89
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone!
I joined MFP and got serious about being healthy at the beginning of February. I started walking the track at the local park daily.
BAM! Sciatica pain. Nice huh? I decide to get in shape and my body punishes me.

I am going to a chiropractor, have seen my GP and have a series of stretches/exercises that I do to help it. I have muscle relaxers that I sometimes take in the evenings when the pain makes me lose my mind.

the only thing that helps it is exercise. Seriously, i'm turning into a total gym rat. I wake up, butt is in pain and it's shooting down my leg, until I do my thing at the gym. I'm usually good for a few hours, but if I sit down at my computer and have any inactivity time of 20 minutes or more, the pain is back.

as much as my over-achieving self would love to live at the gym, that's just not possible.

have you had sciatica and did something non-traditional that helped? My chiropractor is thinking of having me try acupuncture, that's how long this has been going on.

thoughts? help?
thanks!

Replies

  • AngelAura777
    AngelAura777 Posts: 225 Member
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    All I can say is yoga yoga and yoga I did hip yoga at home by watching videos on youtube and doing exercises to stretch out my muscles and it fixed it in like 2 days!!! before that I went to the doctors and had anti inflammatories and they did nothing and every time I walked it pinched. Im not sure if I had sciatica or pirformis syndrome but yoga definitely did the job!!
  • Discoveri
    Discoveri Posts: 435 Member
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    My mom has had problems with sciatica pain for years. She says the only thing that helps is Body Pump (at Golds Gym). The lifing and the squats as well as the cool down really seem to help her. She also cycles and runs but that hasn't helped alleviate the pain.
  • LilynEdensmom
    LilynEdensmom Posts: 612 Member
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    The weirdest thing I found that helps with mine, is one of those waist slimming belts for whatever reason it helps if I put it on when I wake up and wear it around the house it eases off the pain
  • TheMissingSock
    TheMissingSock Posts: 89
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    I've wondered about yoga - we have netflix on the wii so I'll give that a shot!

    and I just saw one of those waist slimming belts at Ross the other day, maybe I'll try that too. I'll try anything at this point.

    thanks!
  • frmeital
    frmeital Posts: 36
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    It's not "odd", but it's known to be helpful for sciatcia for a while now, it's red light therapy. Also, an infrared heating pad will give you about 6 hours of pain relief at least. It will help you manage the pain until your phydical activity will help you heal your condition. You can read more about it here:

    http://www.light-therapy-reviews.net/light-therapy-for-pain/
  • MMarvelous
    MMarvelous Posts: 1,067 Member
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    Pilates helps me feel better and a massage of course! I found the best massage therapist in Columbus, OH but I don't live there :-/
  • k_sharp
    k_sharp Posts: 100 Member
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    This sounds crazy but when mine is really nothing me I can't sleep bc I can't get comfortable at all! I have found taking a full pop can unopened and placing it under my butt puts pressure on it and relieves the discomfort.... I've done chiropractors, physical therapy, muscle relaxers, anti inflamitories and stretching and working out.... Nothing really helps! I'm not really in pain but it's so uncomfortable! I've been dealing with this for three years now I hope someday it will go away!
  • trail_rnr
    trail_rnr Posts: 337 Member
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    I have a lot of nerve pain and am not good at sitting. I constructed a standing desk for work. It took some time for my legs and hips to get used to it but, with proper posture, it makes a huge difference. Posture is very, very important if you decide to do this. You have to actively stand over your pelvis and arches of your feet. If you get "in the back seat" you will fire up the paraspinals and give yourself a new kind of back pain eventually.

    I rarely sit. It makes life interesting, but it keeps the pain under control. Like you, I feel better when moving. The spine is meant to move. It's not meant to sit loaded for very long periods of time (which is what we do to it).

    Try the acupuncture. NIH did a study a few years back and the results were mostly positive.
  • crash_clu
    crash_clu Posts: 359 Member
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    The only thing that will truly help sciatica pain is to find out what is causing it (in my case, x-rays showed a prolapse disc) and get professional advice on what can be done to treat your condition, rather the symptoms.
  • TheMissingSock
    TheMissingSock Posts: 89
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    I have had xrays, and they were clean.

    my chiropractor pushed around on my butt and it turns out there is just a giant knot in my peraforma muscle that won't go away.

    thanks for all the opinions!
  • Skye1999
    Skye1999 Posts: 29
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    I had siatica for 18months, it took 18weeks of treatment for it to go. I was advised by him to get a exercise bike, and get a really soft mattress for the bed. Since I did this I have not had it since and that was about 18years ago. Not only that but I suffered from a bad back, not now since I got a soft mattress.
  • Dare2Believe
    Dare2Believe Posts: 140 Member
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    A lot of my massage patients have sciatica that I work on. Find a good therapist, one that uses cryotherapy (ice) along with myofascial release/trigger point therapy & stretches. I also agree that a good accupuncturist can help. Good luck, I have this problem myself on occasion due to herniated disc. It is quite uncomfortable.
  • LoreleiWalks
    LoreleiWalks Posts: 143 Member
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    I had it a few years ago, and also sought help from a chiropractor. As some of the other posters mentioned, yoga is also great for relieving sciatica. I found the "pigeon" pose to be very helpful. Best of luck to you. :)
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    When I started c35k a few weeks in I had an exceptionally horrible bout of sciatica. (I have suffered from sciatica in the past. It was really bad this last time and I went to a doctor to make sure it was sciatica and not something more serious which I suggest everyone do before doing anything else that could cause permanent damage.) A couple of MFP friends suggested I try a foam roller. It's my new best friend! I use after every single run as a preventative measure (I run three times a week). If I feel sciatica coming on at any other time I pull out my roller and it knocks it out. So far, so good. If I hadn't used the roller I know I would have had to stop running and would have suffered at other times as well.
  • TrishJimenez
    TrishJimenez Posts: 561 Member
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    All I can say is yoga yoga and yoga I did hip yoga at home by watching videos on youtube and doing exercises to stretch out my muscles and it fixed it in like 2 days!!! before that I went to the doctors and had anti inflammatories and they did nothing and every time I walked it pinched. Im not sure if I had sciatica or pirformis syndrome but yoga definitely did the job!!

    this, I have 3 free aps on my android phone called daily yoga for back, hips and abs. They are each 10 mins. Does wonders.

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