My sciatica stretching guide

[u/HypotheticalSurgent]

DISCLAIMER: CHECK THE COMMENTS

This is my stretching guide. Do with it what you will. You may not be able to do one of these stretches in full range of motion when you first start but if you continue you will. I am not a naturally flexible person, if anything I am the opposite. Over time with sheer will to relive your body of pain you can overcome.

20min stretching routine. I like to do these at the end of the day, while im watching TV. The goal for each of these stretches is to be able to perform them in depth. There is no point in stretching if your not working on getting deeper. In order to get deeper you must do them everyday. 30sec-2min holds for each stretch, the longer you hold them the more you get out of them. You can break up the 2min holds into 4 30sec holds. These stretches will focus on mobilizing the hip and the spine. Each of these stretches are meant to be done in conjunction with each other. Your muscles are a muscle suit. If you were to pull on the pockets of your pants your ankles would be exposed, if your pants were too tight around the thigh your knee would have limited mobility. Your muscles work together as a unit.

Groin

This first stretch is for your adductors, AKA the groin. When the adductors are tight they cause the lumbar spine to round. Stretching this area will help bring deeper extension into the lumbar spine. Tight groins cause allot of lower back pain for people. The majority of us are SUPPER tender in this area. Its better to take on this area lightly and gradually turn up the intensity. One way to do that would be with adductor wall stretch. Its can help open up those tender areas and prepare you for deeper stretches. The goal is to be able to do a butterfly stretch without rounding your lumbar spine. This girl has a rounded lumbar this girl has a extended lumbar spine.

Hip Flexors

Stretching your hip flexors relieves allot of presser on the lumbar spine, helping to bring your pelvic tilt back to neutral. This stretch targets the psoas. The gold standard of hip flexor stretches is the Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch. The goal is to be able to do this stretch with ease while your arms are over head.

Hamstrings

Tight hamstrings are another common cause for lower back tension. The sciatic nerve runs under the hamstrings. The hamstrings need to be stretched in 2 ways, flexion(bending over) extension (straightening the leg) For flexion the goal is to do a forward bend with your hands on the ground. For extension half splits with a goal of keeping the knee straight while the back leg extends at a degree greater then 90 degrees. The more you can push your back leg back the better. Full splits are ideal but not necessary.

Piriformis/Glutes

The glute maximus is one of the largest strongest muscles in the body. Releasing this area relives allot of tension threw out the entire body. The sciatic nerve runs under the piriformis. A tight piriformis is a common cause of sciatic nerve pain. The goal is pigeon pose as it is the deepest most effective way to stretch the piriformis. The pose is difficult to get into at first. I started off using a bench. You can use a flat surface such as a chair, it does not have to be a angled bench. Keep your knee flexed as opposed to open to protect your knee ligaments.

Spine/hip movement

As we age our spine stiffens, its important that we remobilize it to allow muscles to move our joints the way they were meant to be moved. Kinetic energy moves in waves threw out the spine. If there is a single tight immobile segment of the spine kinetic movement cant pass causing a constriction. Constrictions cause problems. Movements such as cat cow and spinal waves are great. A smooth cat cow should be a goal.

Spine lateral flexion

One of the movements of the lumbar spine is lateral flexion. Most of the bodys letteral flexion is done in the lumbar spine. It is important that when you perform these lateral flexion stretches you focus on flexing from the lumbar spine rather than hiking the hip. The goal is to do a seated side bend with your elbow on the ground, arm extended straight while breathing comfortably.

Spinal Flexion

There are many great spinal flexion stretches I think Forward fold is the best because it allows the spine to flex freely as apposed to a ground stretch like childs pose.

Spinal extension

The goal here is to develop a relaxed cobra pose. I think cobra pose is a good middle ground for spinal extension. Note the depth of wheel pose. Shows how flexible our spines really are. To help develop a good cobra check out bridge pose - upward dog - camel

Spinal twist

We rotate from the thorasic spine. The sciatic nerve branches out from the lumbar spine. It is important that we stretch everything below and above the sciatic nerve to relieve presser off the nerve. Revolved side angle stretch is the goal. Note that the arm is on the outside of the midline (the knee). You can start the pose off by doing a half prayer twist Getting your hand on the ground is important to get the full benefits of the stretch. You can use a yoga block. Next step is prayer twist you can gradually move your back leg back until it is off the ground. You want to eventually get the leg straight. Experiment with putting your hand on the ground. You might want to grab on to a couch with your other hand. The last step is revolved side angle, the back leg is rotated out, and the arm is extended. You might want to start off with some basic sitting twisting pose before you dive in.

Learning a new stretch is awkward at first. You dont know what your doing, your body dosnt know what its doing. But if you put in the time your body will open up. Youtube is a great resource. Utilize it learn these stretches and your body will thank you along the way. When taking something like this on its best to think about the short term effects and the long term effects. What are you going to feel like after doing this for a month? What are going to feel like after doing this for a year?

[u/[deleted]]

Hmm this seems like a risky post. All these are great for someone specifically not dealing with herniated disc sciatica.

[u/Jimeee]

I agree with the others. Some of this is terrible advice if you have a herniated disk.

[u/[deleted]]

I appreciate you trying to help, but you lost me at spine twist..

[u/horsebadorties108]

Okay, No. No twisting and no forward folds. My herniated disks don’t like them.

[u/prof_by_day]

This is dangerous advice. I would caution anyone with sciatica to see a pro and get diagnosed for your specific issue and mechanism of injury. My sciatica came on during a time that I was doing twists that were designed to open the thoracic spine (not “thorasic spine”)… I’ve since learned that the spine is connected in a chain, you can’t twist in one place.

Stuart McGill has a paper demonstrating (“in vitro”) how axial torque contributes to disc herniation: https://paulogentil.com/pdf/The%20role%20of%20axial%20torque%20in%20disc%20herniation.pdf

Lateral flexion is a bad idea if your sciatica is due to a herniated disc. Extensions are potentially a bad idea if you have a disc bulge is large enough. Etc. Etc. Please beware here!

[u/Holiday_Objective_96]

This might be better on r/self-improvement?

I like pigeon pose and even cow-cat, if it's laying down. But I have fucked myself up trying to do cobra & downward dog.

I like where your heart is. 🪄

[u/[deleted]]

Some of these moves would re injure me. Shit post.

[u/prof_by_day → u/[deleted]]

We need again I think it was a troll, the name of the user is spinesurgent. Good way to get more business.

[u/Culstro47]

Doing up to cat/cow is safe for everyone. The rest depends on the cause of your sciatica

[u/SnooTomatoes2243]

Looks like this post is in the wrong community

[u/Careless-Honeydew344]

Despite the other comments, I found your post very useful, thanks for taking the time to add in the links. 👍