Do not be misled into thinking that you have been given a diagnosis if someone has told you you are suffering with ’sciatica’. The term sciatica is only a descriptive one. If you had pains in your head, I take it you would not be fooled into thinking you were being diagnosed as having a ‘headache’, yet this is exactly the same as being told you have sciatica i.e. you are suffering with pain down the back of your leg which is a result of the sciatic nerve being irritated. If you are looking for exercise for your sciatica, you need to find the cause of it first.

As the sciatic nerve leaves the spinal cord at the bottom of your back, it travels through your buttock and down the back of the leg as far as the knee. At this point, the sciatic nerve ceases to be, as it gives rise to other nerves. However, it is accepted within the medical profession, that any pain passing down the back of the leg, as far as your toes, is referred to as sciatica if it is the sciatic nerve which is causing the pain.

Getting back to the aim of this article i.e. exercises for Sciatica, as I mentioned above, this will all depend upon the true cause of the problem itself.

Typically, your sciatica will have one of three causes:

1) Disc Prolapse.

This is not as bad as it may initially seem. This problem arises typically when there are too many flexion based forces across the lower back and therefore the discs of the lumbar spine begin to bulge. This bulge then presses on the sciatic nerve and subsequently pain is often felt. If this is the cause of your sciatic pain, as a rule of thumb, extension based exercises would be the main principle of your treatment. This may involve lying on your stomach, with or without a pillow underneath, little and often throughout the day. You would then increasing the degree of extension as your pain improves.

2) Facet Joint Compression.

At the back of each lumbar vertebrae are the facet joints, these articulate with each other every time our back moves. Unfortunately, they can irritate the sciatica nerve, especially if they begin to pinch on the nerve roots which make up the sciatic nerve. If this was the case, an exercise programme which is almost the opposite to the one given for a disc prolapse would be given. To begin with this would include exercises such as hugging your knees to your chest while lying on the floor, or sitting back onto your knees while on all fours.

3) Tight Muscles.

Two of the main culprits when it comes to tight muscles would be the Piriformis and Hamstring muscles (although it is not exclusive to these two). The sciatic nerve passes through or underneath the Piriformis muscle as well as through the Hamstrings. Therefore, if either of these muscles are tight, they can aggravate the sciatic nerve which therefore leads to pain.The aim of treatment here would be to stretch out the tight muscles, in order to relieve some of the pressure from the sciatic nerve.

Whichever muscle you need to stretch out, it is important that you begin very gently. As you continue stretching, you will find that the stretches actually become quite easy, it is at this stage that you should think about being more ‘aggressive’ or trying more demanding stretches.

As I mentioned above, sciatica can be a result of many different causes, and it is the cause of your Sciatica which dictates the exercises needed to be performed, not the sciatica itself.

With regards to the causes of sciatica, muscle imbalance is right up there at the top. Tight & / or weak muscles place inappropriate loads across the sciatic nerve and these then result in pain.

Strengthening exercises have not been discussed within this article However, if there is any weakness present, it is imperative these muscles are provided with a strengthening exercise programme.

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