Exercises to Relieve Your Sciatica Symptoms

By Robin Nordhoff

One known remedy for sciatica pain is the strengthening of the back and abdominal muscles with the help of simple exercises and workouts. The stronger your abdominal and back muscles are, the lesser your spine is required to carry most of your body weight. However, before engaging into exercise routines, you should first consult a doctor, an experienced athletic trainer and a chiropractor to ask for advice on the appropriate exercises for you. Although not very common, sciatica may also be caused by an inflammation or infection, or worse, a tumor that needs medical attention. Thus, it is highly necessary for you to seek for an exact diagnosis as to what really causes the pain, so you can proceed on performing the appropriate sciatica exercise routines for your case. Furthermore, doing a wrong set of exercises can even worsen sciatica.
Even if you perform the right exercises, the exercises can prove to be ineffective and even lead to increased and continued sciatic pain without appropriate training and form.
Exercise as a treatment for sciatica is better than bed rest. You may choose to rest for a few days after your sciatica pain attacks, but inactivity after those resting days can invite the pain back and worsen it. Without regular movement, your back muscles tend to weaken. Such can lead to further strain and injury. Moreover, proper exercise will keep your spine and discs healthy. This allows for continued exchange or fluids and nutrients within the spinal discs, which is also known to help lessen the strain on the sciatic nerve.
Sciatica exercises must be done regularly, yet gently, in order to build flexibility and strength. Aside from strengthening the core, abdominal and back muscles, you must also concentrate on the muscles directly linked to your sciatic nerve. An example is the piriformis muscle, which is located inside the buttocks. The sciatic nerve runs through it. When this muscle tightens, it will put pressure on your sciatic nerve. To workout this muscle, you must pull your legs up to an angle of 45 degrees while lying flat on your back. Then, place the right leg over the left as you would when sitting with your legs crossed. After this, gently pull your legs towards your chest until you feel your buttocks stretched. Hold it for sixty seconds and release. Do the same with the other leg. This should provide automatic relief.
Regular stretching of the hamstrings may relieve common types of sciatica pain. Hamstrings are the muscle group located in the back of the thighs. If they are too tight, they can provide stress on the lower back, which often leads to conditions that trigger sciatica pain. Walking is known to be an easy yet excellent form of lower back exercise. Although it is a low impact exercise, it can definitely provide all the benefits that you require. Whenever possible, try progressing gradually to up to three miles of walk a day at a quick pace.

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