Sciatica Stretches – Any Time, Any Where

Sciatica, best-known as sciatic nerve pain, can be a dreadful disease that can truly degrade your quality of life if left untreated.Sciatic nerve stretching exercises can truly help you on your road to becoming pain free, but first you need to understand what causes sciatica.

Essentially, sciatica is nerve damage that has been triggered by either stress, or tight muscles pinching the nerve.Because the sciatic nerve starts in your lower back, and moves down, all the way through the back of your leg and hamstrings, overly tight muscles can create a pinch, which can cause pain.

Most of the time, these overly tight muscles mean that muscles in the surrounding areas are quite weak, and this is thought to be the most common cause of sciatic pain. Sciatica exercisescan really assist to overcome this, and alleviate your numbing nerve pain.

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

In order to determine the type of sciatica you may be suffering from, try this simple exercise. Sit in a chair and stretch the leg with the side you are having pain on, out straight.If your pain increases, most likely true sciatica is to blame, and you have a  herniated disk.Another test that is helpful in discovering where your sciatica is originating from,  is gently pulling your knee on your tender side, to your shoulder on the same side.  Then gently  pull the same knee to the opposite shoulder, and gauge the 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 Sciatic nerve stretching exercises you can perform in order to get relief from your sciatica depending on which type you may be suffering from. The first one you perform the same exercise as listed above under the test exercises, but you do it lying down on your back. 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 move, where you lie flat on your stomach, and proper yourself up on your elbows while looking up slightly. The slight curve this creates in your spine helps to relieve pressure and pain. But again, be careful, because if your sciatica is caused by a facet syndrome, this can aggravate it.

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.

One thing to remember is that sciatica can be caused by various 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 aggravatethe problems.  In such case it is usually recommended to lie flat 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 visit your doctor before embarking on any Sciatica nerve stretches, and find out exactly where the cause of the pain is originating from, is the safest and wisest route to take.You can then be referred to a specialist who can demonstrate the proper exercises and sciatica stretches you should be attempting.

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