Exercise for Sciatica
By Mark Pajich
What is sciatica?
The sciatic nerve is a nerve that runs down both legs, starting at your lower back, through your hips, buttocks and down each leg. Sciatica is the pain that runs down this nerve and it usually only affects one side of your body. Sciatica is also quite common in golfers. Though golf isn’t considered a cause of sciatica, if you golf with mild pain, then the pain can be exacerbated after a round a golf.
The most common causes are herniated disks, bone spurs on the spine or a narrowing of the spine. While the most severe require medical intervention, the majority of people can recover after a few weeks with some lifestyle changes and incorporating certain additional exercises into their daily routine.
To commence, exercises should firstly focus on external hip rotation to assist in the release of any tightness.
Sitting Pigeon Pose
Elevated Pigeon Pose
Standing Hamstring Stretch.
Prone Piriformis stretch
Glute Bridge
Bird Dog
Hold each exercise for 15 seconds, relax, and do it again. Once you start to find all of these getting easier, then you can start to include strength training exercises to strengthen your abdominals, lower back, glutes and hamstrings.
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