Sciatica Exercises
Sciatica exercises are performed daily by many patients affected by
radiculopathy
conditions in their lower back and legs. While exercise is one of the most common and popular treatment options, it is not exactly clear what the intended purpose of the modality is and how it is expected to cure a
sciatica pain
syndrome.
Exercises for Sciatica
Tennis Sciatica
Sciatica and Sports
Yoga for Sciatica
Tai Chi for Sciatica
Bicycling Sciatica
Walking for Sciatica
Pilates for Sciatica
Swimming for Sciatica
Is Swimming Good for Sciatica?
Sciatica and Weight Lifting
Sciatica Running
Golf Sciatica
What are Sciatica Exercises?
Exercises specifically prescribed for
sciatic nerve pain
are typically a combination of
stretches
and targeted physical activities designed to strengthen the postural muscles, increase flexibility and broaden the range of motion in the lumbar spine and legs. These exercises are one of the first lines of defense against
sciatica symptoms
and are usually recommended as part of the initial conservative treatment plan. Exercise therapy, also known as
physical therapy,
is an important part of rehabilitating injuries and recovering from
surgery.
However, it has not proven itself to be very useful in dealing with
chronic sciatica
pain. This is no surprise, since sciatica often scoffs at the traditional medical approach to care and continues unchecked by medical treatment for many years on end.
Purpose of Sciatica Exercises
Exercise is typically prescribed in the hope of accomplishing “some good”. Exactly how this “good” will take place is a mystery to the patient and often the doctor, as well. Remember, the most commonly diagnosed causes of sciatica include
herniated discs,
degenerative disc disease
and spinal
osteoarthritis.
How will exercise resolve any of these structural spinal conditions?
It can’t and it won’t, plain and simple…Exercise will increase muscular strength and flexibility, but to what end? If the muscles are not the source of pain, then how will having amazingly strong muscles help the
back pain
condition? The old notion of stronger muscles helping to support the spine and maintain better
posture
is nonsense when discussing a sciatica condition, since the pain is purportedly due to structural compression of a
nerve root.
This suspected causation will not be relieved by the strongest back muscles in the world…
Reality of Sciatica Exercises
Doctors generally ignore the diagnosis of
ischemia,
when it comes to back pain, despite it being the most common source of chronic symptoms. Despite their adamant denial of this mind/body process, they continue to prescribe sciatica treatments, such as exercise, which will successfully treat ischemia, but not structural pain. How does this make sense? We already established that exercise will not change the spinal structures, nor take pressure off the diagnosed
pinched nerve.
However, it is still illogically prescribed for structural diagnoses everyday.Exercise will help to temporarily relieve ischemia related pain, since it increases circulation and cellular oxygenation. Since
oxygen deprivation
is often the actual process enacting the painful symptoms, exercise works very well for ischemic pain conditions, such as
sciatica
or general back pain. It is just amazing and not quite a coincidence that doctors do not openly acknowledge ischemia as the source of pain, yet design a conservative treatment program as if ischemia were indeed the diagnosed causation of symptoms…
Advice on Sciatica Exercises
Exercise is a wonderful part of life and is crucial to overall health and wellbeing. However, it is not generally a successful cure for any type of back pain. Patients with actual structural pain are unlikely to see many positive results from exercise therapy, while
misdiagnosed
patients actually suffering from ischemia are likely to enjoy temporary relief. If you do see really good results from exercise therapy and have been diagnosed with a disc condition or spondylosis, there is a very good chance that your pain has been misdiagnosed as well…As a certified fitness trainer and professional martial artist, I have a bit of experience with exercise therapy. Regardless, I was instructed to do all these “back pain exercises” throughout my long and arduous struggle with chronic pain. Whenever I would talk to my doctor about the purpose of the exercise, I got some half non-sensical answer which really made me very suspicious of the entire treatment agenda which was recommended to me. My pain was blamed (mistakenly I might add) on degenerative disc disease and 2 herniated lumbar discs. I always asked my doctor what exactly was causing the pain and he explained (what I already knew) that these discs were pressing on spinal nerve roots, eliciting symptoms. I then asked him how improving the strength of my back muscles would help this at all and he basically got this blank look on his face and tried to find the logic in it himself... His mouth began to spout rubbish which contained no logic and a lot of unintelligible phrases such as “ummm”, “you know” and “sorta like this”…. NICE, GOOD JOB DOC!
I personally recommend this fantastic website containing a variety of full body exercises and workouts with tips. If you are looking to get in shape or possibly relieve pain, this is a great place to start.
Sciatica Exercises to Sciatica
7/22/08 Revised 10/18/11
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