3 Straightforward and Quick Stretching Exercises to Help With Sciatica

One of the best techniques to relieve the agony of Sciatica is with stretching exercises. Since most cases of Sciatica stem from muscular imbalances or poor posture (which regularly ends in muscle imbalances over time), stretching can help you to balance weak muscles and release the strain to tight or contracted muscles.

Here are a couple of the most effective stretching exercises for Sciatica that I’ve seen.

Piriformis Stretch – Your Piriformis is a muscle found deep inside your pelvis. Should it become too tight it can clamp down on your Sciatic nerve and cause discomfort in your hips or bum. This stretch will provide help to release the Piriformis.

Sit on the floor with both feet flat on the floor in front of you and knees bent. If you’re feeling agony on your left side, take your left leg and cross it over your right leg. Then grab your left leg with your arms and pull it close to your chest.

When you do this, you will feel a stretching sensation in your rear. This is your Piriformis muscle. Hold this pose so long as you’re feeling comfortable doing so and repeat daily until the discomfort subsides.

Cobra Stretch – We frequently spend most of our days sitting, and many of us do not have good posture while we do it. This can cause muscles that naturally pull us forward and inspire us to slouch and cause back stiffness. This yoga pose helps to pull your muscles in the opposite direction and can undo some of the effects of sitting all day.

To try this stretch, lie on the floor on your belly. Then simply place your hands on the floor at about chest-level and then lift your upper body off the ground. Think of this as slowly peeling your body off the floor. Lean your head back while keeping your hips and legs flat on the floor. This stretch will provide help to open up your back and stretch the muscles that sometimes make you slouch forward.

Swan Dive and Flat Back – Another problem that seems to cause Sciatica is when the Sciatic nerve gets pinched or caught somewhere along its course through the body. This next yoga stretch essentially tightens the nerve and can pull it free of any type of kink that it could have gotten stuck in.

Start by standing with your back straight and your feet together on the floor. Now lift your hands above your head and touch them along with elbows straight. Then lower your arms and bend at your hips to touch your toes.

If you are like most people, you won’t actually be able to touch your toes. At least not so far , anyway. Also try and keep your back flat and straight. It is more vital to keep your back flat and straight than it is to touch your feet. If you continue with this over time , your pliability will increase and you’ll eventually be flexable enough to touch your toes. You should feel this stretch in your lower back and hips.

These three stretching exercises will help you loosen up your Sciatic nerve and relieve the pain you are feeling. These do take some time, generally, to notice any results so stick with them for a couple of weeks if required, and you’ll find your pain going away.

If you’d like to learn more about symptoms of Piriformis Syndrome, a common cause of sciatica, please read this article on sciatica nerve relief for more.