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The interesting thing about sciatica is that it’s quite easy to release with a combination of stretching, back care, and trigger point release massage. Ear acupressure can also reduce pain. And many people find chiropractic adjustments helpful.
I’ve suffered from extreme sciatica myself when I worked at a backpack-making shop. I sat for most of the day, five days a week, with one foot raised to operate the sewing machine’s pedal. The result? I was in severe pain for a number of years. It wasn’t until I learned the sciatica strategies that I found total relief.
Sciatica pain can result from either true nerve pain or from something called pseudo sciatica, which is caused by trigger points that refer pain that mimics or feels like nerve pain.
The interesting challenge when tracking down the cause of sciatica pain is the number of areas that can cause or contribute to the problem, such as bulging discs in the spine or trigger points (muscle knots) in the deep back, glute, hip rotator, and leg muscles.
Before you try any of the following strategies, it’s important to make sure you don’t have any conditions that contraindicate massage, trigger point release, ear acupressure, or stretching activities. If in doubt, check in with your doctor or physio.
How to get some relief:
Hip rotator stretches. Here are three good ones.
• Seated Hip Rotator Stretch #1: Sit in a chair and place your right ankle just above your left knee. Gently press your right knee towards the floor. The idea is to get it to a position parallel to the floor. You can increase the stretch by hinging from the hips and leaning forward. Make sure your hips are square and that you’re not bending from the back. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Repeat on the other side. If you’re extremely tight, this stretch may be too strong for you. In that case, try the second stretch.
• Supine Hip Rotator Stretch: Lie on the ground or on a bed. To stretch the right hip rotator draw your right leg towards your chest, with your knee and your ankle aligned so they are equal distance from your chest. Your left knee draws up behind to hold the lower ankle part of your leg in place. Reach your left arm around your left leg and reach your right hand between your legs, clasp your hands around your left thigh and pull gently towards you, keeping the lower leg equidistance away from you chest (so you don’t want your knee closer and your ankle much farther away). Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Repeat on other side. Be gentle. If you are very tight in the piriformis, this can be an intense stretch.
• Seated Hip Rotator Stretch #2: Sit in a chair, lift your right leg up to your chest, clasping it with both arms. Draw the leg towards your left shoulder (opposite shoulder). Make sure to keep your back straight and lifted, no collapsing, and be gentle. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Repeat on other side. The YouTube vid shows a supine (not seated) variation to this stretch.
Trigger point self-release with a ball. Trigger point release with a hard ball, such as a rubber lacrosse or similar sized hi-bounce ball, can be extremely effective for releasing glute trigger points. Simply work against the wall or the floor, pressing the ball into the main parts of the glutes, avoiding boney areas.
Massage Cupping. The new therapy, Massage Cupping, a method that uses Chinese Medicine cups to release tight and knotty tissue, is an extremely effective and much less painful way for your massage therapist to release your trigger points. For more info check the article Massage Cupping to Release Trigger Points.
Ear acupressure. With this strategy, small seeds stuck to tiny adhesive patches are used to stimulate specific acupuncture points on the ear. This stimulation helps reduce muscle tension and release sciatica pain.
Chiropractic. This approach works well for some people.
Spare the back. If you have disc problems, it’s important for you to spare the back, so reducing disc compression and subsequent problems. Use proper lifting methods. If you need to reach something off the floor, use a proper squat (the knees don’t go beyond the toes) or use the golfer’s lift, where you stand on one foot, the other leg lifted behind for balance as you lever forward to pick up or put down and item.
Avoid sitting for long periods. If you have back or sciatica problems, it’s important to give your spine a break if you sit for lengths of time. Get up, walk, reach up towards the sky as you arch back slightly to relieve the lower lumbar area, and do the hip rotator stretches.
Physiotherapy/Physical Therapy. Make an appointment with your local physiotherapist to find out if you have any muscle imbalances, gait issues, or posture or joint problems that are leading to your piriformis issues. If you find the cause, you will likely solve the problem.
Sciatica pain doesn’t have to be a life sentence. When you know the strategies, the problem is quite easy to reduce or eliminate altogether. And before you know it, you’ll forget you ever had pain that kept you from sleeping at night or from doing the things you loved.
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Photo Credit: A. Feldmann
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