Two Sciatica Stretching Exercises You Should Know For Pain Relief
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Sciatica, also known as sciatic nerve pain, can be a distressing disease that can really degrade your quality of life if remained untreated.Sciatic nerve stretching exercises can offer relief to your pain, but it is essential to first understand what causes sciatica.
Basically, sciatica is nerve damage that has been set off by either stress, or tight muscles pinching the nerve.The sciatic nerve starts in your lower back area, and runs down, through the buttock area, and down through the hamstring and the back of your leg. So, when you have overly tight hamstrings, that can set off pain in your sciatic nerve.
Most of the time, these overly tight muscles indicate the weakness of the surrounding muscles, and this is determined to be the most common cause of sciatic pain. Sciatica exercisescan really help to combat this, and ease your numbing nerve pain.
Another cause of sciatic nerve damage is occupations such as truck driving, where you are sitting for long periods of time, and being bounced around at the same time, which applies pressure and stress on the sciatic nerve. Sciatica can also be caused by a herniated lumbar disc, in which case, merely performing sciatica stretches won’t help too much, and can in fact in up harming your sciatic nerve further.
Try one of these simple exercises to help you find out which type of sciatica you may be suffering from. Sitting upright in a chair, stretch your leg that you are having pain in, straight out.If your pain increases, most likely true sciatica is to blame, and you have a herniated disc.Another test that is helpful in determining where your sciatica is developing, is gently pulling your knee on your tender side, to your shoulder on the same side. Then relax a bit and proceed to pull the knee towards the opposite shoulder, and gauge your pain.If it is significantly more painful pulling to the opposite shoulder, tight muscles are the most likely culprit for your sciatica.
Here are 2 simple Sciatica nerve stretchesyou can do for sciatic pain relief: Lying flat on your back, pull your knee up to each shoulder.This can help to stretch out overly tight hamstrings. Be careful though, because if you suffer from a herniated disc than this exercise can worsen it.
The second stretch is based on yoga exercises. Lie flat on your stomach and push up on your elbows, looking up and breathing deeply. This creates a slight curve in your lower spine and helps to relieve pressure and pain. However again, be careful as this can exacerbate a facet problem that could be inducing your sciatica.
Also it is good to note that pain may increase for a bit when doing this sciatica stretch, but usually with practice it improves. Get up and take a break between reps, walk it off. These sciatica exercises are supposed to help you, but always use good judgment and caution when performing them.
One thing to remember is that sciatica can be caused by several factors at once. Herniated disc’s, facet syndrome which I mentioned briefly before, tight muscles. Facet syndrome involves rear joints at the base of
your spine, and stretching your back like the yoga exercise from before can actually increase your pain and worsenyour symptoms. In such case it is normally recommended to lie on your back and hug your knees. However if you are also suffering from a herniated disc, then hugging your knees isn’t recommended. Truthfully, to consult your doctor before embarking on any Sciatica stretches, and find out precisely where the cause of the pain is originating from, is the safest and smartest route to take.They can then refer you to a therapist that will help you do the proper exercises relevant to your particular case.
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