Exercise does more than just help you maintain a healthy weight. In fact, exercise can help you prevent injuries and treat conditions like back pain or sciatica. Many people experience sciatica due to a lack of stretching and exercising, which causes muscles balances in the body. For example, tight hamstrings or glutes can cause a tilt in the pelvis which in turn puts added strain on the lower back. These types of imbalances can be responsible for pain felt throughout the body from the lower legs, all the way up to the neck.
It is important to keep in mind that most general exercises, like walking, will not help alleviate sciatica pain. Some exercises may make your pain worse. Even some athletes suffer from sciatica, which is additional proof that exercise alone will not prevent this condition. In order for exercise to alleviate sciatic nerve pain, you must first address the initial cause of your sciatica. Once you identify these underlying issues, you can begin a targeted exercise program that is designed to eliminate the muscle imbalances in your body.
Stretching vs Exercising for Sciatica
Many people in pain are intimidated by the word exercise. They feel that they are in too much pain to be able to workout. This type of thinking keeps a lot of people stuck in pain. A little bit of rest may be good for you, but too much inactivity and bed rest can make matters worse. Besides, there are many simple stretches that you can do from the comfort of your home that will help tremendously. These targeted sciatica stretches don’t require any visits to the physical therapists, expensive equipment or strenuous exercises. You can learn more about stretches that help alleviate sciatic pain by visiting the sciatica section of our website.
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Additional Exercise for Sciatica
If the stretches we recommend don’t help you, it may be wise to seek the help of a physical therapist. Physical therapists will help you create a structured stretching an exercise program that you can follow, should you need the additional guidance.
You can also consider trying yoga. Yoga poses will help you loosen tight muscles in the body, as well as alleviate pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Exercise Programs for Back Pain and Sciatica
Our Lose The Back Pain System is the only self-assessment and self-treatment system that shows you how to identify the muscle imbalances that are causing your pain, and how to use specific stretches and exercises to wipe your back pain and sciatica.
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I’m eager to begin these exercises. I’d rather try these exercises than take meds or an operation.