Contrary to what you might think, exercise is one of the best things you can do to help get relief from sciatica. Bed rest is okay initially for just a few days if necessary when your pain begins but it will make your condition worse if you continue. Exercise and physical movement is necessary to condition your back muscles and small spinal muscles to better support your back. Without proper exercise, your back muscles become weaker and this can lead to further back injury that will cause increased amount of pain. Exercise is not only important to maintain muscle conditioning but maintain spinal discs as well. Since your discs are not internally vascularized, movement is required to get nutrients into your discs as well as wastes out. Maintaining healthy discs will help to prevent pressure on your sciatic nerve. Many exercises can be done in the convenience of your own home. A simple sciatic exercise program generally includes strengthening core muscles, hamstring stretching and aerobic exercises.
Which Exercise’s for Sciatica?
Before you get your sciatic exercise program under way, make sure that you visit your health care provider. It is important that you have a proper diagnosis of the cause of your under lying pain. For example, do you have a herniated disc or in particular spinal stenosis? This will determine the right type of exercises you will need to do. Doing the wrong exercises will increase your sciatic pain and possibly do permanent damage. Not only is it important to do the right exercises, but also the exercises must be done correctly. Exercises done incorrectly may worsen your problem. It is a good idea to work with a physical therapist or chiropractor to learn how to do your exercises properly. Then you should be able to do them on your own safely.
1.Core Muscle Strengthening
A sciatica exercise programs generally starts with strengthening your core muscles. Your core muscles include your stomach muscles and back muscles. Strengthening these muscles will provide better support for your back. Stretching exercises for your back and stomach are meant to target muscles that are causing pain because they are tight and lack flexibility. With stretching and strengthening your core muscles, you should be able to recover quickly and slow down future occurrences of sciatic pain.
2.Hamstring Stretches
Next, you can incorporate hamstring-stretching exercises. If you are not familiar, your hamstrings are found in the back of your thigh. Chances are your hamstring muscles are to tight and are creating stress for your lower back. Tight hamstrings can make your condition worse or this may be the cause of some of your sciatic pain. Hamstring stretching should be a part of your regular exercise whether you have sciatica or not. This form of stretching is known to be effective for most forms of sciatica.
3.Aerobic Exercises
The third form of exercises involves aerobic exercises. Aerobic exercises are not what you would call specific for sciatica but may be beneficial. Aerobic exercises provide for all over body fitness. One of the easiest forms of aerobic exercise is walking. I’m sure your aware that walking is a very low impact exercise and will provide excellent therapy for your sciatic pain. It is best to walk everyday. If you are not used to walking, make sure to start out slowly. Try working up to three or more miles a day. Your walk should be rather fast paced to bring up your heart rate. Walking will strengthen all of the muscles of the body allowing you to have good posture. Good posture is important to ease and even eliminate all back pain.
Important Final Tips:
Taking care of your sciatica will be an everyday endeavor. Be careful how you lift things, don’t sit or stand for long times and try to keep a proper posture. Everything contributes to relieving your sciatic pain. Don’t forget to get a proper diagnosis before you begin and make sure you learn how to do your exercises properly. If you follow this regime, you should have great success. In fact, you may experience relief within a few days to one week.