Sciatica treatment

[ZootHornRollo]

Ow.

L4/L5 is sticking out again.

yep know that feeling

[pip]

Hi,can anyone give me any idea how to relieve sciatica?i've had it for the last month,it runs down my left leg,most of the pain is in the back of my thigh,it's so painful.I'm still running but am reduced to a walk as the pain is so sharp at times:thunbdown:Sometimes it goes all the way down to my foot.Are there any exercises I could try ? Grateful for any suggestions.

[Brotherton Lad]

I've had something similar down the right leg for 4 years, caused by a trashed right glute impinging on the nerve. Tried various stretches, but gradually the neural impingement has led to the right quad wasting away and other muscles compensating for its absence. This led to an off-balance developing causing further injuries (calf tear, sore knee etc). Also a right pain on long car drives.

I had about a dozen painful physio sessions (pointy elbow of a 14 stone bloke in the glute and acupuncture) to free it up. Now in the process of re-building muscle in the right place.

Wish I'd paid good money 4 years ago to fix it, rather than hoping for it to mend itself.

Piriformis syndrome could be a cause, loads here: http://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/showt...ormis-syndrome

[DrPatrickBarry]

I have suffered with it off and on for years. I went to a physio a couple of years ago and got all these exercises. It is all about strengthening up the lower back muscles to keep things stable down there. Do a Google search for them and you will find loads.

When things are bad I get disciplined to do them but needless to say when feeling OK my motivation to do them wains. I have almost constant very low level pain, but surprisingly enough running does not effect it.

[cyclops]

Hi,can anyone give me any idea how to relieve sciatica?i've had it for the last month,it runs down my left leg,most of the pain is in the back of my thigh,it's so painful.I'm still running but am reduced to a walk as the pain is so sharp at times:thunbdown:Sometimes it goes all the way down to my foot.Are there any exercises I could try ? Grateful for any suggestions.

Hi Pip,

best thing is to see a physio or massage therapist to work out if if its soft tissue compressing the nerve or bones that are entraping them. if its soft tissue thats causing the pain then massage and focussed stretches will be the way to get relief....if bones then you might need a bit of manipulation (but I'd still recommend massage as well). Most cases of sciatica do tend to be soft tissues, particularly the piriformis muscle which overlays the sciatic nerve (or in a small percentage of people actually has the sciatic nerve running through the muscle). if the muscle is tight it compresses the nerve and you feel pain. as others have said, there are loads of stretches you can find on youtube, but nothing beats someone actually working on the tissues with trained hands.

best of luck getting this sorted,
Lynne

[A.P.E Knott]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Treat-Your-B.../dp/0959804927

At this stage this is the only money you need to spend.
regards
Mark

[pip]

Thanks for the replies,I'm going to try the stretches and see how I get on,also have a go with the tennis ball.:thumbup: