When painful sciatica strikes, you may feel like spending the rest of the week in bed, but that approach may worsen your pain. Strengthening and stretching exercises can help relieve the nerve compression that causes sciatica pain. The type of exercises you can perform will vary, depending on the cause of your sciatica. Check with your doctor before performing any exercises for sciatica.
Identification
When a nerve is irritated, pain may not occur solely at the site of the irritation -- it may travel along the path the nerve takes in your body. Irritation or compression of a nerve in your back can cause pain or cramps that travel down the length of your leg. Your leg may feel numb or weak if you have sciatica, and you may feel a tingling or burning feeling along the path of the nerve. Pain may worsen when you sit or stand. Several conditions can cause sciatica, including a herniated disc or spinal canal narrowing due to spinal stenosis. You can also develop sciatic pain if one of the vertebrae in your spine is out of alignment or if you have piriformis syndrome, a condition caused by spasms of a buttocks muscle.
Aerobic Exercises
Aerobic exercise helps keep your entire body in good shape by strengthening your heart and muscles and increasing endurance and circulation. When you participate in aerobic exercise, your body releases endorphins, chemicals that act as natural pain killers. Aerobic exercise is any type of movement that raises your heart rate while simultaneously exercising your large muscle groups. While basketball, running and other forms of exercise that involve twisting, jumping or jarring movements might not be appropriate if you have sciatica, you'll find that low-impact aerobic exercises, such as walking or swimming, may help your symptoms.
Stretching Exercises
Performing gentle stretching muscles helps reduce tightness in your back muscles that can contribute to sciatica. Stretching exercises can help reduce pressure on the nerves in your back. MayoClinic.com suggests holding stretches for at least 30 seconds and avoiding twisting, bouncing or jerking while you stretch. Doctors also recommend performing exercises to stretch the hamstring muscles in the backs of your thighs. Strengthening hamstrings decreases the amount of stress on your lower back and may help reduce symptoms.
Muscle Strengthening Exercises
Muscle strengthening exercises strengthen core muscles in the abdomen and back that support the back. Spine-Health reports that the back muscles and spinal structures become deconditioned and are less able to support the back without movement and exercise. Performing exercises also helps reduce sciatica pain by keeping spinal discs lubricated, preventing pressure on nerves. Depending on the severity of your condition, your doctor may suggest that you begin with stretching and low-impact aerobic exercise before starting muscle-strengthening exercises.
