Sciatica exercises can help reduce or eliminate your sciatic nerve pain and are one of the most common ways sciatica sufferers seek relief.
If you’re experiencing a lot of sciatic nerve pain, it’s not an uncommon feeling to just want to rest. However, it’s generally not advised to rest for more than a day or two. Not moving much can actually make the sciatic pain worse. This happens because the lack of movement can lead to muscles and the spinal structures in the lower back weakening and make them less able to support the back which can increase the likelihood of further back injuries and strains resulting in yet more back pain.
There are three major classes that sciatica exercises fall into. First are the strengthening exercises that work to strengthen the muscles in the abdomen and back. The idea behind these kind of exercises is to provide more strength for the back. Second are stretching exercises which target muscles that cause sciatic nerve pain when they become tight and inflexible.
The third class are just general conditioning exercises like walking and swimming which help improve overall body fitness as well as bring sciatica relief. The general conditioning exercises do this by promoting the exchange of fluids and nutrients which can aid in the healing process. General conditioning exercises also have the added benefit of releasing endorphins into the body, which are natural pain killers which can help provide some relief.
The specific type of exercises you do are dependent on the specific cause of your sciatica. Sciatica can be caused by a number of conditions including a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, piriformis syndrome, and degenerative disc disease. Because the kind of sciatica exercises that you do are dependent on the condition that’s causing your sciatica, it’s important to get a diagnosis from your health care provider. If you perform the wrong type of exercise for your specific condition, you risk making things worse.
So be sure to visit your health care professional to get a diagnosis before starting any exercise routine. Once you have your diagnosis, check back here as we’ll be covering sciatica exercises for some of the specific conditions that cause sciatic nerve pain in future posts.
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