Stretching Out Sciatica

Sciatica is becoming more and more common due to the seated lifestyle we all seem to be living. Driving, office chairs, couches, and dining chairs take up a a massive part of our waking hours and can lead to sciatica. Most of us either know some small form of sciatica or at the very least, someone who does.

Sciatica is pain affecting the back, hip, and outer side of the leg, caused by compression of a spinal nerve root in the lower back, often owing to degeneration of an intervertebral disk.

Delving deeper into the medical side of it, the Mayo Clinic describes sciatica as, “pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve, which branches from your lower back through your hips and buttocks and down each leg.”

Being wary of this, I’ve put together a stretching routine specifically designed to combat sciatica by taking care of you hamstrings, glutes, and sciatic nerve. So if you’re experiencing discomfort in the sciatic region or know you could use some good stretching to help ease it, try this 15 minute stretch session.

  • Two Legged Pike:
    Seated on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you, reach for your toes.
  • One Legged Pike:
    Bring one leg into your groin whilst keeping the other straight in front of you, and reach towards your outstretched foot. Once completed, switch legs.figure-4-stretch
  • The Figure 4 Stretch:
    While lying on the floor, bring one knee up at right angle grasping behind the knee with your hands. Then bring your opposite leg’s ankle in front of the right-angled knee. Gently pull your hands behind the knee to your body to stretch. Once completed, switch sides.

Click on to page 2 for 3 more stretches to help sciatica…

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