Sciatica affects anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of the population and is most often present in people 40 years of age with active jobs and lifestyles. If your job requires you to constantly bend over or work with your arms above shoulder height, you are probably familiar with the aching, numbness, or tingling pain of the sciatic nerve. And you could likely benefit from these sciatic pain relief exercises.
Sciatica describes an underlying medical condition that causes irritation, compression, pinching, or inflammation of the sciatic nerve. These medical conditions can vary from herniated disks in the lumbar spine to muscle spasms to sacroiliac joint dysfunction. You do not have to have sciatica to have sciatic nerve pain.
Whatever the cause, the numbness, pain, and tingling commonly associated with sciatica can be debilitating. Sciatic pain starts in the low back and radiates through the glutes and legs. The following sciatic pain relief exercises can lessen pain and discomfort by stretching the low back, hips, glutes, and adductors.
Always consult your doctor before beginning a new exercise or stretching routine to ensure it is appropriate for your body.
Figure Four Exercise
Figure four is a simple hip opener that can provide sciatic pain relief by stretching the adductors and glutes. Any version of this externally rotating hip exercise can provide release.
- Start on your back with both feet resting on the floor.
- Lift up your right leg and rest the outside of your ankle on your left knee.
- Put your hands behind the left knee and gently draw your knee into your chest.
- When you feel a stretch on the outside of the right leg, stop and breathe.
- Hold for ten breaths.
- Repeat with the left leg.
Advanced: Pigeon pose is a more advanced version of figure four that uses body weight to increase the stretch in the hip and adductors. Start slow. If you feel pain in either the hips or knees, back off immediately, you may be in danger of over-stretching.
Hamstring Strap Exercise
Often sciatic pain causes tightness, numbness, or aching in the hamstrings.** This exercise helps loosen the hamstrings and adductors. You will need a yoga strap, dog leash, or scarf twice as long as your leg for this exercise.
- Start by lying on your back.
- Bring your right knee into the chest.
- Loop the strap/leash/scarf around the bottomof the foot while keeping hold of both ends, one end in each hand.
- Straighten the right leg so that your heel ispressing toward the ceiling. Keep a slight bend to the knee to keep fromhyperextending the knee.
- Start with the leg straight up toward theceiling and gently pull the leg toward you as you breathe.
- Hold for ten breaths.
- Optional: Gently draw the leg over themidline of the body until you feel a stretch on the outside of the leg.
- Bring the leg back through to the centerslowly and bend the knee into the chest.
- Draw both knees into the chest and make smallcircles with the knees to give the lower back a small massage.
- Release the right leg to the ground and repeatthe exercise on the left side.
**A note about the hamstrings: Depending on the severity of your sciatic pain, stretching the hamstrings could put an indirect strain on the sciatic nerve. Be sure to bend the knees during the exercise to keep from putting undue stress on the area where the hamstring attaches to the glute. If you feel pain right beneath the glutes, you are in danger of over-stretching and injury.
Piriformis Exercise
You can do thissimple sciatic pain relief exercise anywhere, anytime. This exercise loosensthe glutes and piriformis muscles, both of which can press against the sciaticnerve when inflamed.
- Start by lying on your back.
- Pull the right leg into your chest.
- Gently pull the leg across your midline,toward your left armpit.
- Hold for ten breaths.
- Place the right leg back down.
- Repeat with the left leg.
Back and Hip Pain Relief
Not all back andleg pain is related to the sciatic nerve so check with your doctor if you areunsure.
You should alsocontact your doctor if:
● The painlasts longer than six weeks
● Youhave persistent weakness/pain in both legs
● Youexperience issues with your bowels
● Youexperience sexual dysfunction
Yoga and gentlestretching practices that incorporate hip, hamstring, and glute openers couldbe an easy way to add regular stretching into your routine. Our bodies rewardconsistency, so repeating these exercises even when you do not feel thesymptoms could help prevent sciatic pain in the future.
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May 2021. This article is independently written by Fusion 360. All opinions given are the opinion of Fusion 360
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