Did you know that one of the nerves that emerges from the lower back on either side of the spine is known as the sciatic nerve? It begins in the glutes and continues through the hips before dividing into two at the top of each leg. Sciatica is neither an injury nor a condition in and of itself. However, if the ailment is not addressed, it might result in some significant and perhaps life-threatening health problems. People who suffer from sciatica often compare the pain they experience to being “sharp,” “shooting,” or “burning.”
Sciatica may be treated in a variety of ways, one of which is by stretching because it has the potential to make the pain more bearable. Below, you’ll find further information on how stretching can help ease the discomfort of sciatica. Keep in mind that it is essential to discuss with a specialist any concerns you may have regarding your health.
How Can I Stretch and Get Back to Feeling Good?
As was said earlier, sciatica is caused when the sciatic nerve, which extends from the lower back all the way down to the toes, is irritated or compressed in any way. If we choose to overlook this possibility, the outcome might be catastrophic! You may be able to assist in easing the discomfort and pain that it produces by performing specific stretches and exercises. This may allow you to feel wonderful again.
It is possible for a physician or a physical therapist to recommend you execute several of the following stretches on a daily basis:
1) Hip stretch while seated
- Take a seat on a chair with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent at a right angle (90 degrees).
- Raise the leg that is injured and place the afflicted ankle over the knee of the opposing leg.
- While maintaining a deep inhale and gently bending forward with one crossed leg, keep this position for thirty seconds before releasing.
2) Knees to chest
- Place the soles of your feet on the ground while bending your knees and lying on your back with your knees bent.
- Raise either both knees at the same moment or just one knee at a moment as you slowly hug your knees into your chest.
- Stretch for approximately five seconds before reducing the tension and doing the exercise on the opposite side, if required.
- You can repeat it up to three times.
3) Perform a hamstring stretch while standing
- To begin, make sure you are standing tall with your feet together.
- Raise the afflicted leg so that it is perpendicular to the body and place the heel on a ledge or tabletop that is at a level that is slightly lower than the height of the hips.
- With a straight spine while bending forward at the waist, bend the leg backward until there is a stretch at the back of the knee while maintaining the knee straight yet soft.
- Before releasing, maintain the stretch for a period of thirty seconds.
- After resuming the posture from where you started, proceed to perform the stretch on the opposite side.
4) Cobra, or a variant of the cobra
- While on your stomach, bring your legs straight back together and stretch them behind you in a straight line. Bend your elbows and place your palms on the floor next to your chest.
- To do a full cobra, ensure that your elbows are fully extended and that your chest is lifted as high off the floor as you can get it. At the peak, pause for ten seconds, and then slowly lower yourself back to the initial place.
- Thrust through the palms while continuing to extend the elbows to raise the chest off the ground to an angle of about 45 degrees to perform a slightly altered version of the cobra pose.
- This exercise should be performed for a total of ten repetitions.
5) Spinal rotation while seated
- Sit up straight on the ground with your legs out in front of you in a straight line.
- To perform this exercise, bend one of your legs at the knee and put the foot of the bent leg on the ground on the outside of the knee of the other leg. If you find that bending the horizontal leg such that it still reaches the ground makes you feel more comfortable, do so.
- To get a more profound stretch, rotate toward the knee that is bent while positioning the opposing elbow on the outside aspect of the knee that is bent.
- Maintain the stretch for thirty to sixty seconds for the best possible benefits.
- Bring yourself back to the place where you started.
- On the other side, repeat the process.
Share in the comments below the stretching exercise that you found to be most helpful in reducing the discomfort associated with sciatica.
Tiesha loves to share her passion for everything that’s beautiful in this world. Apart from writing on her beauty blog and running her own beauty channel on Youtube, she also enjoys traveling and photography. Tiesha covers various stories on the website.