Hi, I’m Dr. Dennis barley here at Barley Wellness here in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Today we’re talking about the proper treatment for sciatica and 5 exercises that you can do to alleviate sciatica pain.
Sciatica Pain Explained By Chiropractor In Fairhaven, MA
So, what is sciatica? Sciatica is lower back pain, buttock pain, coursing down the back of the leg all the way into the foot. It can be burning, tingling, numbness, pain, or excruciating pain.
Through the lumbar, lower lumbar nerve roots, as well as three of the sacral nerve roots, they coalesce and come together to form this large nerve root in your body, that goes down the back of the leg.
Cat Cow Exercise For Sciatica Pain In Fairhaven, MA
So let’s talk about some of the exercises we can do first, this one is called the cat, the cat-cow. What I’m going to do first is get on all fours, my knees are with this far apart as are my shoulders.
First thing first, I’m going to stick my rear end out and drop my stomach. Okay, and I’m going to lift my, head up, breathe in, and then extend back down, bend my back, put my head towards my chest, and just do a few leaves. And you can breathe through that too, which is
a really great exercise. But that gets the lower back and the discs moving. So that you can get some fluidity and movement back in there.
Knee to Chest Exercise For Sciatica Pain In Fairhaven, MA
Next stretch I’m going to show you is simply lying on your back in bed, pulling one leg, your chest, you’re going to hold this for 20-30 seconds, release, do the other side 20-30 seconds release. And then bring both up to your chest and curl up. Great stretch.
Piriformis Exercise For Sciatica Pain In Fairhaven, MA
The next one I’m going to do for the piriformis muscle is I’m going to take the this is the bad leg, I’m going to take that and cross this ankle quantity. And I’m going to reach through my leg and grab here and pull to my chest. That puts a nice stretch on the sciatic nerve and will help alleviate and stretch out that piriformis muscle. So that’s that stretch. I always recommend doing it on both sides, even though only one side may be affected.
Ankle Over Knee Exercise For Sciatica Pain In Fairhaven, MA
You can do this sitting stretch where you cross your ankle on your knee, sit tall, push your leg down and pull out as if someone’s pulling you on your tie leaning over your leg. That’s phase one, that’s 20 seconds. The second part of this is to grab this knee and pull it to the opposite shoulder. Pull this leg all the way up to the opposite shoulder. And again, always do it twice.
Pigeon Stretch For Sciatica Pain In Fairhaven, MA
And the last one I’ll show you is a little more intense stretch. So you’ve got to make sure that you’re good with this. But this is called the pigeon to yogic move. I’m going to take that leg. I’m going to say the effective leg is this leg. I’m going to cross that underneath me almost like a number four. And then I’m going to just gently push back with my bottom leg, move through and put my head to the floor. As I do this, that will stretch that piriformis muscle and help stretch the sciatic nerve.
