Sciatic nerve pain, also well-known as sciatica, is an disease that when left untreated can become distressing and overwhelming, and actually degrade your quality of life.Sciatica stretches can provide sciatica relief, but it is essential to first understand the potential causes of sciatica.
Sciatica is essentially damage to the sciatic nerve that is triggered by pinching of
the nerve from tight muscles, or stress being placed on the nerve. Because the sciatic nerve starts in your lower back, and travels down, all the way through the back of your leg and hamstrings, excessively tight muscles can create a pinch, which can cause sciatic nerve pain .
Generally tight muscles suggest a weakness in the surrounding muscles, and that is the most common cause of sciatica.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 long periods of time. The constant bouncing places 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 damaging your sciatic nerve further.
In order to decide the type of sciatica you may be suffering from, try this simple exercise. 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.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 significantly more painful pulling to the opposite shoulder, tight muscles are the most likely culprit for your sciatica.
Here are two simple Sciatica nerve stretches you can perform in order to help relieve sciatica depending on which type you may be suffering from. Lying flat on your back, pull your knee up to each shoulder.This can help to stretch out overly tight hamstrings. Be careful though as this can exacerbate a herniated disc problem.
The second stretch is based on yoga exercises. Lie flat on your tummy 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. But again, be careful, because if your sciatica is caused by a facet syndrome, this can worsen it.
Also, sometimes this may increase your pain temporarily, but it usually improves with repetition, and it is best to get up and walk around for a bit in between repetitions, and take a break. Both of these sciatica exercises can help you heal, as long as you do them several times a day for as long as you have nerve pain or numbness, and there are no other causes of your sciatica you are unaware of.
One thing to consider 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 extending your back like the yoga exercise from before can actually increase your pain and worsenyour symptoms. In that 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. Thus, to see your physician before embarking on any Sciatica stretches, and find out precisely where the cause of the pain is originating from, is the safest and smartest path to take.They can then refer you to a specialist that will help you do the proper exercises relevant to your particular case.
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