Sciatica Exercises for Pain Relief and Prevention
Sciatica pain is excruciating and can potentially ruin entire days. Luckily there are a few exercises that may be able to reduce the pain and allow you to move around without the crippling pain. At MSM Wellness, we have a center for physical therapy financial district that can help you. Sciatica pain may be severe but read below to learn how some exercises can help reduce the symptoms.
What is Sciatica Pain
The sciatica is a nerve in the lower back that runs down to both of your feet. Sciatica nerve pain is usually caused by a herniated disk that pushes down on nerves around it or other illnesses that irritate nerves as a side effect. Thankfully this pain usually only lasts a few weeks, and during that time, it’s important to stay moving to prevent irritation and inflammation that may occur while staying still. If your sciatica pain lasts over a month, consider contacting our physical therapy financial district to receive a checkup.
Sciatica Exercises
Here are a few exercises that can help relieve your pain and prevent unnecessary inflammation.
- Basic seated stretch – This will involve sitting down in a chair and crossing your legs, putting your painful legs ankle near your other leg’s knee. Then slowly lean forward while trying to hold the spine straight. If pain starts flaring up while bending forward then stop the exercise.
- Knee to opposite shoulder – First, you will lie down before lifting a knee and lightly grabbing it with your hands. Then slowly pull your knee to your other shoulder as far as is comfortable and hold for 30 seconds before releasing it. This exercise aims to loosen muscles that can become inflamed and further irritate the sciatica nerve.
Visit our Physical Therapy Financial District
While sciatica nerve pain typically goes away on its own as the body heals, it could be caused by a different illness or injury that may need to be treated. Contact our physical therapy financial district if you feel your pain is severe enough or has been going on for long enough to be concerning.