Sciatica from Driving

Sciatica from driving is a very problematic symptomatic expression for a large number of affected patients. Many people find sitting with sciatica to be generally uncomfortable to begin with and driving to be even worse. After all, driving requires not only sitting for long periods of time, but also using the legs and feet continuously to control the vehicle. Additionally, driving subjects the patient to additional emotional stress in the form of traffic, road rage and work related issues.

Sciatica from Driving Problem

Most people who drive need to do so in order to perform their jobs or meet family obligations and responsibilities. Driving has become an inherent part of many sciatica patients' lives. If a person needs to drive and can not do so, they will be put under a huge amount of stress. Emotional stress can certainly cause physical pain all by itself, but it can also certainly worsen any uncomfortable symptomatic expression, including sciatica.

People who endure sciatica while attempting to drive might be suffering from a structurally induced pain syndrome in the lumbar spine, such as a herniated disc. These concerns are known to become painful when the person is forced to sit for any length of time. However, many patients suffer pain due to pure psychological conditioning, not any tangible structural reason. They might have experienced pain while sitting early in their back pain experience and now have come to fear sitting every time. They might have also been warned by a doctor or fellow patient that sitting can produce pain. Both of these situations can create programmed responses to sitting through real world experience or the psychological nocebo effect.

Psychosomatic Sciatica from Driving

As previously mentioned, driving is typically linked to other sources of potential emotional stress, such as work and family. The subconscious mind does not always behave as we would hope and like and might create physical pain as a means of hiding repressed, deeply held and sensitive emotions relating to activities, events, memories or people in our lives. This is known scientific fact and the basis of the tension myositis syndrome diagnosis propagated by the world famous Dr. John Sarno. Patients who do not have an obvious reason for sitting related back pain are likely to be suffering from symptoms which come on in association with these troublesome emotional issues. This is a consideration rarely discussed during sciatica diagnosis, which is truly a shame. Remember, that the majority of unresolved back pain complaints are caused, perpetuated or worsened by purely emotional phenomenon. This is a universal truth of the epidemic of mind/body disorders which are presently plaguing our healthcare system worldwide…

Sciatica from Driving Advice

While there are a number of products on the market to reduce lower back strain while driving, I do not recommend or endorse ANY. It is rare that a long term sciatica pain syndrome will come about as a result of a purely physical condition. Usually, these structural issues are discovered and successfully corrected during the typical barrage of back pain treatments attempted by most patients. Chronic symptoms continue because they have never been accurately diagnosed. Most are ischemic pain syndromes which are enacted to distract from emotional stress. Do not discount the ability of the mind to cause or cure pain throughout the body. As a final thought, it is wise to remember that the body is the soldier, while the mind is definitely the general…

Sciatica from Driving to Sciatica Home
8/19/09 Revised 12/12/09