Sciatica Stretching Exercises

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Friday, November 13th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

Sciatica, well-known as sciatic nerve pain, can be a dreadful illness that can truly degrade your quality of life if remained untreated.Sciatic nerve stretching exercises can offer lower back pain relief, but it is important to first understand what causes sciatica.

Essentially, sciatica is nerve impairment that has been triggered by either stress, or tight muscles pinching the nerve.The sciatic nerve originates in your lower back area, and travels 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 trigger your sciatic nerve pain .

Most of the time, these overly tight muscles indicate the weakness of the surrounding muscles, and this is thought to be the most common cause of sciatic pain. You can overcome this, and ease the painful nerve by regular sciatica exercises .

Sciatic nerve damage can also be triggered by job stressors such as truck driving for a prolonged period. The constant bouncing places stress on the sciatic nerve. A herniated lumbar disc can also cause sciatica, which then it would be advisable to avoid sciatica stretches without talking to your doctor first, as this could end up harming your sciatic nerve further.

Consider one of these simple exercises to help you determine which type of sciatica you may be suffering from. Sit in a chair and try stretching the leg with the side you are having pain on, out straight. If this increases your sciatic pain, chances are you are suffering from true sciatica related to a herniated disk.The 2nd test you can perform is pulling your knee on your painful side slowly, up to the 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 more painful pulling to the opposite shoulder, then most likely you are suffering from sciatica caused by tight muscles.

Here are two simple Sciatica nerve stretches you can perform in order to help relieve back pain depending on which type you may be suffering from. Lying flat on your back, pull your knee up to each shoulder.This can help stretch out tight hamstrings. Be careful though, because if you suffer from a herniated disc than this exercise can worsen it.

The second sciatica stretchesyou can do is a yoga technique, where you lie flat on your tummy, and proper yourself up on your elbows while looking up slightly. This creates a slight curve in your lower spine and helps to relieve pressure and pain. However again, be careful as this can worsen a facet problem that could be causing 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 meant to help you, but always use good judgment and caution when performing them.

Another thing to remember is that sciatica is rarely caused by just one factor. In some cases, it may be due to facet syndrome, which I briefly mentioned above. That involves rear joints at the base of your spine. In that case, extending your back like mentioned above can actually worsen your symptoms, and it is suggested to lie flat on your back and hug your knees. However, again this can put pressure on any herniated disc problems. Thus the absolute best thing you can do is to visit your doctor before performing any Sciatica stretching exercises, and find out exactly where the cause of the pain is originating from, is the safest and wisest 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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