In this video, I'm going to show you how to fix sciatica
pain at home. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe from SpineCare in St. Joseph,
Michigan. In this video, we're going to focus on getting quick
sciatica pain relief and to make this easy, I'm going to
break this video up into three separate parts. Each part will
focus on a different way, a different method to get
sciatica pain relief. In the first part, we're going to
focus on taking pressure off spinal disc that might be
bulging or herniating off to one side pinching a nerve
causing that sciatic leg pain. In the second part, we're going
to focus lengthening the sciatic nerve pathway to reduce
stress and tension on the nerve. In the last part, we're
going to focus on strengthening everything that supports the
spine. So, hopefully you'll have a lot less instances of
sciatica in the future. All of these exercises work just a
little bit differently. So, to get the best results, go
through all three parts and exercises and use what gives
you the most amount of relief. As a bonus, all of these
exercises are easy. They don't require any equipment and you
may find give quick sciatica sciatica pain relief even
within 30 seconds. So, let's get started and fix that
sciatica pain at home right now. One of the most effective
ways to treat sciatica is through the process of
centralization. The most common cause of sciatica is a
compressed disc in the lumbar spine that tends to bulge or
herniate off to one side. This pinches a nearby nerve causing
traveling or radicular pain down the leg. So, what we need
to do is unpinch that nerve by decompressing or taking
pressure off of that spinal disc. When that happens, the
body is put into a position that it can heal itself and
you'll start to notice an upward trend of leg pain known
as centralization. So, let's go through different positions,
movements, and exercises and see if we can get some
centralization. This first one is the easiest and I do
recommend this one when you have severe sciatica or lower
back pain. It's called a back reset position. Pretty easy to
do. You're going to lie flat on your back next to a couch. You
can also use a chair. Put a small rolled up towel or pillow
underneath the small of the lower back for a little bit
more support but I try to scoop my bottom towards the couch or
the chair and then just have my feet elevated like this.
Generally in this position, you're going to find a lot of
quick relief. Look for that upward trend, that
centralization of leg pain. At that point, you know it's
working for you but I try to do this one for about three to
five minutes and just do nice, slow, controlled breathing. The
more you relax into this position, the better results
you going to get. Grab a book, use your phone, just anything
that clears your mind. To take this one to the next level
instead of just going straight with it, angle your upper body
through your hips and through your waist towards one side.
This will help open up the back just a little bit differently.
So experiment going all the way towards the left. Experiment
going all the way towards the right. If you notice any of
those positions are centralizing that pain and
giving you more relief, you want to spend more time in that
position. So two easy exercises that can do that have a great
track record for centralization and overall sciatica pain
relief are the yoga poses the child's pose and the cobra I'm
going to start with the cobra so this one you're going to
start lying on your stomach on the floor you're going to
support your upper body weight onto your forearms just like
this I'd like to put them in a V shape and put my hands
together the key with the cobra is not to lift up on the hips
during this exercise so make sure that your hips all the way
down to your toes are kept flat instead the movement is going
to through the back. This puts the back through a motion
called extension which helps take pressure off of it. In
this position, I feel a gentle stretch in my back, my core
muscles going into my hips, and the front part of my legs. I
try to hold this one comfortably for about 30
seconds. Just do nice, slow, controlled breathing. Let that
tension out. If this becomes too easy, what you can do is
the full cobra. So, instead of going on our forearms, we're
going to put our hands off to our side and then press up just
like this. More you press up, the more intense the stretch.
So again, go to your comfort level. Make sure what we're
seeing is centralization not causing any more traveling
pains down the leg and make sure to keep those hips on the
floor as much as possible but I try to do this one for about
three to five complete repetitions. From there, I'm
going to build into what is known as the child's pose. So,
this one we're going to go on our knees just like this. You
might want to put a pillow or towel underneath them too for
just a little bit extra comfort but this one is very easy too.
What I'm going to do is tuck my chin towards my chest, reach
with my arms kind of about shoulder width apart, grip into
the floor with my fingers, and crawl forward as much as I can
until I feel a very gentle stretch forming in my back.
From there, I'm going to rock my whole body backward kind of
like taking my butt down towards my heels. What this
will do is help a put a pulling motion known as traction into
the lower back. It usually feels really really good.
Again, I try to do this one for about 30 seconds. Just nice,
slow, controlled breathing again. When you need a
breather, just come back like this. On the next repetition,
try to build into it even more. The focus is trying to open up
those joint spaces to get more centralization. What you can do
to take these movements to the next level too is instead of
going straight forward, angle your body off to one side. It
will help open up the back just a little bit differently. So,
experiment with going all the way towards the left. Go all
the way towards the right. If one position feels a bit better
for you, you're getting more centralization, throw more
repetitions in and you can also do the same with doing the
cobra going off to one side. The most effective standing
sciatica pain relief exercise that I found is the Mackenzie
wall lean. We just need to go next to a wall for this one.
The hardest part about this exercise is just knowing what
side to put next to that wall. Remember to put the good or
non-painful side towards that wall. So, I'm going to have
very good standing upright posture. Let's put our feet
together roughly a foot, foot and a half away from that wall.
That way we have enough space in between us that we can lean
into the wall with our upper body. We want our upper body
flush against it. So, double check to make sure that your
wrist, your elbow, and shoulder are flush against it during
this exercise at all time. We don't want to lift up on the
shoulder or have any space in between us just like this. So,
once we're in that position, I'm going to take the hand on
the painful side. I'm going to press into that painful side's
hip and then I'm going to drive the knob painful side towards
the door or I should say the wall. When you do this, go into
it very very slowly. You do not want to do any sudden movements
that can cause irritation and you do not want to go to the
point where it is causing irritation or even more
traveling pain down that leg. If you start to feel agonizing
pain, back off a little bit, go right before that point and
build into it through repetitions but once we feel a
very comfortable stretch, what we're going to look for at that
point is that upward trend of pain, that centralization. If
that's happening, you know this is helping you. So, hold this
one for 30 seconds. Do nice, slow, controlled breathing,
just relax into this movement. When you need a breather, just
come back like this but I try to build into this one over the
course of three to five repetitions. Another great
method to get rid of sciatica pain is by actively lengthening
the sciatic nerve pathway. That way, we're taking tension,
stress, and pressure off of that nerve. I call this the
two-chair floss. I'm just going to be using two chairs. One
without wheels. So, what I'm going to do is sit with very
good upright posture. Whatever side that you're having pain,
straighten that leg at the knee as much as possible, bring your
foot up rested on the chair. If this position right here is not
comfortable for you, you can do this at the edge of a chair
with your legs straight and your heel just on the floor.
You might find that that's a little bit more comfortable and
if you're able to then progress into this one. So, let's start
with the beginner's floss. What I'm going to do is just take my
foot and slowly point my toes away from me as much as I can
until you start to feel an activation into the calf,
towards the knee, into the thigh right here towards the
butt and then towards the back. You really want to focus on
activating those muscles as much as you can but not to the
point where it's causing agony or more traveling pain. If
that's the case, back off slightly, go before that point
and build into it through repetitions. I'm going to hold
this one comfortably for 5 seconds. From there, I'm just
going to relax and now bring my toes back towards me. So,
essentially, we're flossing that nerve through this
movement. Bring those toes back as much as you can. You're
going to notice that the leg gets hit just a little bit
differently. Five-second hold, relax, and then repeat this
whole cycle for 10 to 15 times and with each repetition, try
to build into it just a little bit more. Really challenge
those muscles. If you feel like this really helped out, you can
throw in another set or two or do this throughout the day for
sciatica pain relief but let's experiment with positions and
take this one to the next level. So, what I'd like to do
is mimic my head movement with my foot movement while doing
this. It just hits it a little bit differently. So, as you
point your toes away from you, what you're going to do is tuck
your chin towards your chest. You'll feel a little bit more
of an intense stretch forming. Five-second hold, I'm going to
relax and I'm going to bring my toes back towards me and then
I'm just going to put my head into extension, a backward
movement like this. If you feel like this one hits it just a
little bit better, gives you better results but on doing
this movement instead. You can take this one to even the next
level by doing what is called a sciatic slump stretch. This
one's going to be a very intense stretch. So with this
one, what I'm going to do is I'm going to tuck my chin
towards my chest until I feel a stretch in my back and then I'm
going to slump forward with my shoulders and body weight until
I really feel it in the lower back. From here, what I'm going
to do is bring my toes back towards me. This really
intensifies that stretch. Hold this one about 5 seconds and
then you're just going to relax but you can also experiment
with a flossing motion during this. So, point your toes away
from you and then point them towards you. If you feel like
this one hits it a little bit better, do more of that motion.
It's all about finding the movements and positions that
give you the most amount of relief but go through all of
those. Try to do them for about 10 to 15 repetitions and you
can throw in another set or two if you would like. The great
part about this exercise that if you do have two-sided
sciatica, you can do both legs at the same time. One of the
best but probably the most overlooked way to treat
sciatica is with strengthening exercises. It doesn't matter
what miracle stretch or exercise you do if your back is
weak and cannot support the spine, it won't matter. You
will always be prone to further injuries. So, I want to go over
two strengthening exercises that are very back that is
we're not going to put the back into any odd positions,
twisting motions, anything like that. The first one is called a
bridge. It's going to focus more on the legs, the glutes,
the buttock, and also the back. The other one is known as a
bird dog. So, it's going to focus more on the core. When
you put both of those together, you'll get the best of both
worlds. With the bridge, start off lying on your back. You can
do this one in bed or on a floor. What I'm going to do is
have my knees bent feet flat on going to tighten my core for a
little bit more support and then take my hands, place them
onto my hips just like this. The movement from here is very
easy. I'm driving my hips and pelvis up towards the ceiling
until my body is in a nice straight line from my knees to
my hips to my shoulders. If you're unable to get into this
position, let's say that this is as far as you can go because
you're just having a lot of weakness. Do the best you can.
Over time, you will notice that you'll gain strength and
flexibility to get into this position. Also, you might have
pain with this movement. So, if that's the case, go right
before that point and then over time, you should notice that
you again will have more flexibility to be able to get
into this position but in this position right here, I feel a
ton of muscles firing. My core muscles, my lower back, the
glutes, and my legs. I hold this one comfortably for 5
seconds. From there, I'm just going to relax and then I'm
going to repeat this one 10 to 15 times with each repetition.
Try to build into it just a little bit more. You can make
this one more challenging by lifting up on one leg and
putting all of your body weight off to one side. Just make sure
when you do this that your body does not tilt. So, you want to
keep your hips and pelvis even but whatever you do on one
side, always make sure to do on the other side to keep them
both in balance. You can take this one to the next level too
by targeting muscles just a little bit differently with
different foot placements. So, what I'm going to do is angle
my toes up towards the ceiling and put my leg weight into my
heels, drive it into the floor, and then do the same movement.
You'll notice the muscles just get hit a little bit
differently. Give that one a try. You can also experiment
with going on your toes just like this. If any of those
movements feel like they're giving you better results, at
that point, throw more repetitions in and focus on
that. So, moving on to the dead bug, this one can also be done
lying on your back in a bed or on a floor. What I'm going to
do is raise my legs up, knees pointed up towards the ceiling
and the knees will be bent roughly at 90 degrees. You want
to tighten your core muscles during this exercise for a
little bit more support. The movement is very straight
forward. What I'm going to do is take one leg straight my
knee and then lower my leg down very slowly. You want to do
this one nice and slow. Really focus on fighting your leg
weight. Go down until your heel and calf are hovering right
above the floor. You don't want to let them touch. If they do,
just come back up very slightly. But in this position,
you're going to feel a ton of muscles firing in the back and
also around the core. Really focus on feeling that. Hold
this one comfortably for 5 seconds. You're just going to
relax and then you're going to repeat it on the other side.
You want to do this one nice and slowly for about 10 to 15
repetitions. To make it more challenging, you can throw in
another set or two or take it to the next level by using an
ankle weight for more resistance to build more
muscle. The exercises helped, please support the channel by
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get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you for watching.