3 Steps For How to Fix Sciatica Symptoms and Resolve Your Pain
Nov 25, 2020
Our lives have taken some different routes this year, whether that was transitioning to work from home, workouts in the living room, more sedentary, or “quarantine 15”? One thing is for certain, we have all experienced a change in our daily routines in one way or another. Now, a change in routine, reduced activity and increased time sitting can lead to underlying areas of our bodies to respond with increased pain levels or more sensitive to activities - especially so during times of high stress. Today we are going to be talking about how to resolve your pain and fix your sciatica problem.
Sciatica affects 10-40% of the population, most commonly in their 40’s. The vast majority of people who experience sciatica typically get better within 4 to 6 weeks with nonsurgical sciatica treatments like physical therapy.1 I don’t know about you but that is great news to have resolution of symptoms with consistency and conservative management rather than undergoing surgery. That sounds like a WIN! So how can we make this happen for you?
First off, did you know that experiencing pain or radiating symptoms into your leg doesn’t always mean it’s sciatica It is important to note that any type of lower back pain or radiating leg pain is not sciatica. Sciatica is specific to pain that originates from the sciatic nerve.
Common Symptoms:
Radiating “mild, severe, radiating, or sharp” pain on the back of the leg, commonly on only one side. Symptoms can vary from buttocks, back of thigh or into the foot.
Symptoms may feel worse while sitting, trying to stand up, bending the spine forward, twisting the spine, lying down, and/or while coughing. The symptoms may be relieved by walking and for some people applying a heat pack over the rear pelvic region. Below we are going to walk you through the 3 steps of How To Resolve Your Pain and to Fix Your Sciatica Problem - for good!
- Calm Your Symptoms
It seems simple and almost like a no brainer but we want to make this as clear as possible. Before you can truly fix the problem we must resolve your pain and reduce it significantly in order to tolerate the other aspects of the rehabilitation and resiliency- building process. Below are a few of our favorites to use as strategies to calm your symptoms.
Hamstring Flossing
Figure 4 Stretch on Wall
Figure Four Stretch - Seated
Pigeon Stretch
Hip Rotator Tissue Massage with Ball
- Mobilize the Right Spots
Next once your symptoms have significantly reduced we have to mobilize the right spots in your body. Our bodies have been designed to have joints for mobility and joints specifically for stability. We commonly see in the patients that come to our performance PT clinic with mobility dysfunction at key joints which can lead to improper movement patterns and incomplete body mechanics - which over time can lead to injury or pain, such as symptoms of sciatica. Below we have hand selected a few of our favorites to mobilize the spine and mobilize the hips to begin to fix your sciatica problem.
Mobilize the spine
Cat/Cow - Segmental Spinal Mobility
Seated Cat - Cow
Mobilize The Hips
90/90 Hip Internal-External Rotation Mobility
- Stabilize the Right Places
Last, but certainly not least we must stabilize in the right spots of our body. We firmly believe this at Inside Out to stabilize and strengthen your body in the correct way can make quite the difference for success in your symptom relief. It’s one thing to do any exercises, but to have specific exercises at the right frequency and appropriate progressions is where the results are seen and how they last! Give these exercises a try below to begin the stabilization work necessary to fix your sciatica problem.
Core Brace - Reverse Bent Knee Marches
Glute Bridge
3 way Clamshells
As mentioned above, sciatica can be treated conservatively and resolution of symptoms can be seen within 4 to 6 weeks. Now if you’re reading this and you’ve been experiencing this pain for longer than that, it’s time to get some guidance and support. You’re meant to thrive, and not feel limited due to pain, especially sciatica.
Most people don’t know how to stay healthy and fit without getting hurt. At Inside Out Strength and Performance we provide a clear plan to get you in the best shape of your life, without getting injured, so that you can be active and confident that you’ll feel your best for years to come.
We help North County San Diego’s active adults and runners dealing with pain or injury get back to living a pain-free, strong, and confident life.
We are the Strength Docs who help active adults and runners live a strong, confident, and pain-free life. Fill out our contact form here to get a clear plan and get started.
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The information included at this site is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment by a healthcare professional. Because of unique individual needs, the reader should consult his or her personal physician to determine the appropriateness of the information for the reader's situation.