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Sep 1, 2024 · Sciatica often goes away on its own over time, but some kinds of exercise can help the pain and some can make it worse. Exercises that relieve sciatica include low-impact aerobic activities like walking, certain strengthening exercises, and gentle stretching.
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- Overview
- Exercise, stretches, and activities to avoid if you have sciatica
- What exercises should you do with sciatica?
- Takeaway
Sciatica is the pain or sensation that occurs along your sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is formed from the nerve roots in the lumbar and sacral spine and extends through your hips and buttocks and down each leg. Often a bulging disc causes sciatica. Compression, inflammation, or irritation to the sciatic nerve may also cause sciatica.
Symptoms of sciatica include shooting or burning pain as well as fatigue, numbness, or tingling.
Usually, sciatica only affects one side of your body. During a sciatica flare-up, you may find some movements difficult, but it’s important to stay active. Avoid high-impact sports, exercises, and movements that strain the sciatic region. Stay away from any activity, movement, or posture that causes pain.
Discover the types of exercises and activities to avoid when you have sciatica, plus exercises that improve your flexibility, mobility, and strength.
Listen to your body and stay away from any activities that cause pain. Certain exercises can exacerbate sciatica symptoms, especially if they strain or put pressure on your back, core, and legs. While it’s important to increase strength and flexibility in these areas, you need to do it slowly and safely.
Avoid high-impact activities which can aggravate symptoms and cause injury. If you’re experiencing severe pain, take a break from activity. However, inactivity or sitting for long periods may worsen your symptoms, so aim to do light exercise or stretching when possible.
Several exercises and stretches help treat sciatica. Exercise enhances soft tissue healing, benefits your nervous system, and may make you less sensitive to pain.
It’s important to do some physical activity daily, even if it’s only gentle stretching. Walking, swimming, and water therapy exercises are also great options. When walking, move at a comfortable pace and avoid walking uphill.
Stay away from exercises that cause pain or exacerbate sciatica symptoms. Be gentle with yourself and focus on movements that safely alleviate symptoms and develop strength, mobility, and alignment.
To enhance healing, follow a healthy diet, lower your stress levels, and get plenty of quality sleep. You can also look into acupuncture, massage, or chiropractic treatments. Topical pain medications, lumbar braces, and hot and cold therapy are also options.
- Avoid Exercises That Stretch Your Hamstrings. Stretching your hamstrings can worsen sciatica, says Ronald Tolchin, D.O., director of spine care at Baptist Health Miami Neuroscience Institute.
- Avoid Lifting Heavy Weights Before Warming Up. Certain exercises with heavy resistance can aggravate your sciatica unless you have sufficiently warmed up your muscles first, says Adeepa Singh, M.D., a a pain management specialist and physiatrist with Brain and Spine Surgeons of New York.
- Avoid Certain Exercise Machines. For instance, rowing machines increase the strain on your lower back, especially if your core muscles are weak or not adequately warmed up, says Dr. Singh.
- Avoid Sitting For Longer Than 20 Minutes. After 20 minutes or so, Dr. Tolchin says, get up and walk around for a bit before sitting back down. When you do sit, avoid bending forward.
Aug 26, 2022 · Learning how to exercise with sciatica (rather than avoiding it altogether) could help you live a healthier, pain-free life. We spoke with experts to delve deeper into what sciatica is, why...
Oct 26, 2023 · Your doctor can go over self-care tips, exercises for sciatica pain, or other medical treatment options. What causes sciatica to flare up? Triggers are different for everyone.
- Keri Wiginton
Aug 25, 2023 · People with sciatica can still exercise, but they may need to take breaks during flare-ups and then resume gentle activities that do not cause pain.
The goals of physical therapy and exercise in treating the signs and symptoms of sciatica are to: Restore pain-free functional movement patterns. Relieve lower back, buttock, thigh, and leg pain. Reduce muscle spasm. Restore the function of the lumbar spine and the sacroiliac joint. Improve mobility of the lower body.
