Sciatica, commonly known as sciatic nerve pain, is a painful condition that, if left untreated, can significantly reduce your quality of life. Sciatica stretches can be really beneficial in your quest for pain relief, but first, you must comprehend the causes of sciatica.
Sciatica is a condition in which the sciatic nerve is damaged due to pinching caused by tight muscles or tension imposed on the nerve. The sciatic nerve originates in your lower back and goes down through your buttocks, hamstrings, and back of your leg. As a result, if your hamstrings are too tight, it might cause sciatic nerve pain.
The most common cause of sciatica is tight muscles, which suggest a weakening in other muscles in the surrounding area. Regular sciatica stretches and exercises might help you overcome this and relieve your numbness nerve pain.
Another factor that can harm the sciatic nerve is jobs like truck driving, which require you to sit for lengthy periods of time while also being tossed around, putting pressure and stress on the nerve. Sciatica can also be caused by a herniated lumbar disc, in which case completing sciatica stretches won't help much and may rather worsen your sciatic nerve.
Try this simple activity to determine which sort of sciatica you may be experiencing. Sit in a chair and stretch the leg on the side of your body that hurts out straight. If this worsens your sciatica, it's likely that you have real sciatica caused by a herniated disk.
Pulling your knee on the painful side slowly up to your shoulder on the same side is the second test you can try. Then relax a little and pull the knee towards the opposite shoulder while assessing your pain. If tugging to the opposite shoulder is more painful, you are most certainly suffering from sciatica caused by tight muscles.
Depending on the sort of sciatica you have, there are two basic stretches you can do to help relieve it. Pull your knees up to each shoulder while lying flat on your back. This can aid in the stretching of hamstrings that are tight. However, be cautious because this can worsen a herniated disc.
A yoga move, in which you lie flat on your stomach and prop yourself up on your elbows while looking up slightly, is the second stretching exercise you can do. This helps to reduce pressure and pain by creating a little curvature in your lower spine. However, proceed with caution because this may aggravate a facet problem that is causing your sciatica.
Also, while this may initially worsen your pain, it normally improves with repetition, and it's advisable to get up and walk around for a few minutes in between repeats to give yourself a rest. Both of these sciatica exercises will help you heal if you do them several times a day for as long as you have sciatic nerve pain or numbness and there are no other reasons for your sciatica.
It's important to remember that sciatica is rarely caused by a single cause. Facet syndrome, which I briefly mentioned above, may be the cause in some situations. The back joints at the base of your spine are involved in this.
In that scenario, stretching your back as described above may exacerbate your problems, therefore it's best to rest flat on your back and hug your knees instead. However, this can place a further strain on any herniated disc issues.
So, before you try any sciatica exercises, see your doctor figure out where the source of your pain is coming from. They can then connect you to a therapist who can assist you in performing the appropriate exercises for your situation.