In this video, we're going to go over how to relieve sciatica
pain on both sides. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare
in Saint Joseph, Michigan. While sciatic nerve pain tends
to be one sided, there are certain individuals that will
get it on both sides. So, I want to go over some very easy,
effective exercises that will help sciatica pain being felt
in both legs. All of these exercises hit the lower back
and that sciatic nerve just a little bit differently. So, go
through all of them take what works best for you. As a bonus,
all of these exercises can be done at home, do not require any
special equipment and may give quick sciatica pain relief, even
in as little as 30 seconds! So, let's get started. Let's
begin with one of my favorite sciatica exercises which is
known as a door cobra. Also, I want to note that you know
these exercises in this video are helping if you start to
feel an upward trend of symptoms. We call that
centralization. The most common cause of sciatica is a lumbar
disc issue, like a disc bulge or herniation, that pinches a nerve
causes that lightning bolt down the leg. So, as you do these
exercises, if the symptoms and sciatic pain start to go back
up the leg, again, you know they're helping. So, let's
start with the door cobra. What I'm going to do is go towards a
door frame. I'm going to put my toes, flush against it, and
then from there, I'm going to take my belly button and hips
and just lean into it. This is our stable anchor point. So, we
don't want the hips or the pelvis coming off the door like
this, only our back. I'm going to take my hands right here,
place them roughly around the belt line, and gently press
into it so we have again that stable anchor point. From
there, I'm going to have very good upright posture in the
upper back and then slowly lean backwards. So, when we do this,
it's going to put the lower back into extension, a
backwards movement. This helps take pressure off those spinal
discs and hopefully off any nearby pinched nerves. Keep
going back as much as you can until you feel a very good
stretch and hopefully starting to see that pain centralizing
coming back upwards. Once we hit that deep comfortable
stretch. Let's hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds. Do nice,
slow, controlled breathing also. The more you relax, the
better the treatment. When you need a breather, just lean
forward and relax. You want to do this one for about 3 to 5
complete repetitions and with each repetition, try to stretch
into it just a little bit more to help open up those spinal
disc and relieve pressure. You can also experiment by just
lifting and lowering your thumbs right here to target
different spots. When you place the thumb over the low back and
press into it, it's going to pinpoint that spot just a
little bit more. So, I would start at the belt line and go
all the way up. If you feel that one certain spot like
let's say right here for me works a little bit better,
throw more repetitions in, target the spots that need it
the most. So, here is one of the easiest and most effective
ways to treat sciatica on both sides at home. I like to call
this one the soup can method because I'm going to be using
my old trusty can of beef barley soup and a large bath
towel. Let's start off on our back just like if you do need
extra comfort for your neck, put a rolled up pillow or towel
underneath it. We want to position our legs to the point
where our knees are at 90 degrees. I'm pressing into a
door or lay wall with my feet. I tend to wear shoes with this
one also because it offers more grip making this exercise just
a little bit easier. So, let's take our can of soup, place it
right underneath that large rolled up bath towel and I'm
going to place it centered right over my back and from
there, what I'm going to do is use my legs right here to lift
up and down with my body weight so we're just going to slowly
lower our body weight over that can of soup when you do this
you're going to feel a very deep stretch over the can of
soup in the lower back so slowly lower down until you
feel a very comfortable stretch. You know this one is working
for you also if you start to feel that sciatica pain coming
back up towards the lower back once we hit a very comfortable
stretch let's try to hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds. Do just
nice, slow-controlled breathing also. The more you relax, the
better the results. When you need a breather, just lift your
butt up like this. On the next repetition, try to build into
that stretch by just lowering your butt towards the floor
just a little bit more. Always challenge yourself to get a
better stretch. You want to do this one for three to five
repetitions. From there, you can raise and lower the can to
target different spots. Make note of any spot that gives you
more relief and throw repetitions in. If you want to
take this one to the next level, we can incorporate
dynamic movement in there to challenge the lower back and
the muscles a little bit differently and hopefully take
more pressure off those spinal disc and those pinch nerves.
What I'm going to do is get back into our original
position, feel that very good stretch in the lower back. I'm
going to take my hands, place them on my hips just like this.
The movement is very easy. We're going to do a pelvic
tilt. That is just rocking our hips, our pelvis forward and
back. We're kind of like taking our butt for and backward just
like this. Do it nice and slow over that can and when you do
this, you'll feel a lot engage in the lower back and also into
the hips and the pelvis. I like to do this one for about 15 to
20 seconds. From there, I just relax and take a breather and
then I just build into that stretch a little bit more on
the next repetition. Try to do this one for three to five
repetitions. From there, move the can up and down and target
any other spots that you feel offers relief. So, here is a
very easy way to get sciatica pain relief and let gravity do
all of the hard work for us. This is a decompression or
traction exercise that's going to take pressure off the spinal
disc very quickly. I'm going to go next to the edge of a bed or
a couch. Let's start off by putting a pillow or towel at
the edge for extra comfort and then we're just going to lie on
our stomach just like this. Pretty much from the lower back
on up is going to lay flat while our hips or legs are
going to be off. Let's position our legs to the point where the
hips and the knees are in a straight line. Our toes are on
the floor just like this to support our lower body weight.
In this position already, you should feel a very gentle
pulling motion into the lower back. It usually feels pretty
good. What I like to do to intensify it is to tuck my chin
towards my chest and then outstretch my arms just like
this. Really grip into the bed of the couch and kind of pull
forward with your fingers. This really opens up and intensifies
that stretch. So, once we had a very comfortable stretch, you
want to try to hold this one for about 20 to 30 seconds.
Doing nice, slow, controlled breathing also. If it feels
good, you can hold it for longer, a minute or two but
when you need a breather, just kind of relax just like this.
On the next repetition, I would recommend just trying to dig
forward a little bit more with your fingers right here to get
a better stretch. Try to do this one for about three to
five repetitions and again, you know it's working for you if
that pain starts to come back up the legs and centralizes. If
want to take this one to the next level. What we're going to
use is something that will glide. I'm going to be using a
furniture mover but if you do have carpet, you can use
something like a paper plate or a piece of cardboard. If you
have hardwood floors, just throw a towel underneath your
toes. We're going to do what is known as a sciatic floss. This
really helps stretch the sciatic nerve pathway. So,
let's get back into that original position but this time
around, what I'm going to do is kind of kick my toes backwards
and try to straighten the legs at the knee and point my toes a
from me. When you do this, you'll really feel a deep
stretch into the leg. It's going to help stretch that
sciatic nerve on both sides. You want to hold this one right
here for about 20 to 30 seconds and then you're just going to
relax and then you're just going to slowly repeat this.
With this one too, you might not be able to straighten the
legs all the way to begin with. Just go to a point where it's a
very comfortable stretch and you're getting relief. You
want to hold that and then on the next repetition, build into
it just a little bit more until you're able to get your toes
all the way from you but it's just a good way to let again
just let gravity do all of the hard work and hopefully get
some very quick sciatica pain relief. Here is a wonderful
exercise that's really good at relieving sciatica pain on both
sides. I'm going to take two of my favorite yoga poses, the
child's pose and the cobra and put them together. They're
really good at lengthening the spine, adding flexibility, and
taking pressure off spinal disc that might be causing that
sciatic nerve pain and you can do this one right in bed start
off on all fours. I like to position my body to the point
where I'm a little bit towards the edge of the bed and I can
grip off to the edge of the bed with my hands for a stable
anchor point. From there, I'm going to tuck my chin towards
my chest. Let's do the child's pose. Very easy to do. What I'm
going to do is rock my whole back and hips as one complete
movement. So, I'm not arching my back bending at anything
like that. Pretty much just taking your butt down towards
your heels. The more that you go down towards your heels, the
more intense this stretch going to be felt. I feel it pretty
much throughout my whole back, upper all the way down to the
lower but you want to concentrate on feeling it into
the lower back. Once you hit a very good deep stretch and
hopefully, it's relieving some of that sciatica pain already.
You want to hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds. Do nice,
slow, controlled breathing also. Let that tension out.
From there, we're going to build into the cobra pose which
puts the back into extension taking pressure off spinal
discs. What I'm going to do is just lie flat on my stomach
just like this. I'm going to prop my upper body on my elbows
just like this. During this exercise, we don't want to lift
up on the hips or the pelvis. We want to let it lay flat.
Just press up with your arms like this. Raise your shoulders
up towards the ceiling as much as you can. When you do this,
you should feel a very good stretch into the lower back and
the front of the legs and also the core muscles. It should
feel again like the pain, the sciatica pain is starting to
centralize up towards the lower back. Hold this one for 20 to
30 seconds. Do nice, slow, controlled breathing. From
there, we're just going to repeat this cycle. So, we're
going to get back on all fours. We're going to do the child's
pose and on this next repetition, just try to stretch
into it just a little bit more. Always challenge yourself to
open up the back because hopefully, it will relieve that
sciatica pain just a little bit more but try to do this for 3-5
complete repetitions. As a note also, if the cobra becomes a
little bit too easy, go up like this. You can take it to the
next level by just straightening your arms out
like this and it becomes very intense but again, make sure
not to lift up on the hips. Go up as far as you can and
hopefully that will offer just a little bit more relief. If
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any comments or questions, please leave them below. I'll
get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks so much for
watching!