sciatic nerve complaint

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boora

Senior List
Jan 25, 2006
297
49
shepparton
AFL Club
Collingwood
hi, has anyone on here had a sciatic nerve complaint and if yes, what did you do too manage it?

i have had a problem for around 5 months, pins and needles in calf/feet, tight hammy and lower back pain etc. what sort of stretches, back people (chiro, osteo), excercises that you did etc.

thanks.
 
boora said:
hi, has anyone on here had a sciatic nerve complaint and if yes, what did you do too manage it?

i have had a problem for around 5 months, pins and needles in calf/feet, tight hammy and lower back pain etc. what sort of stretches, back people (chiro, osteo), excercises that you did etc.

thanks.
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i think you should get to a physio or doc before you start anything cos it might not even be a sciatic problem and all stretches would do it no good. could be a L4/5 or s1 nerve compression from your spine. get expert opinion and they will tell u everything
 
boora said:
hi, has anyone on here had a sciatic nerve complaint and if yes, what did you do too manage it?

i have had a problem for around 5 months, pins and needles in calf/feet, tight hammy and lower back pain etc. what sort of stretches, back people (chiro, osteo), excercises that you did etc.

thanks.
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It's not gonna be the sciatic nerve. It sounds a bit like S1/2 nerve root compression if its in calf and feet. Usually this happens due to a bulding disc. Does it get worse when you bend to touch your toes? If so, you could do some extension in lying exercises (providing this does not reproduce pain), where u lie on your stomache and prop up onto your elbows. Like arching your back.
I would be doing a lot of core stability exercises with the spine in neutral.
 

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Cats fan 16 said:
It's not gonna be the sciatic nerve. It sounds a bit like S1/2 nerve root compression if its in calf and feet. Usually this happens due to a bulding disc. Does it get worse when you bend to touch your toes? If so, you could do some extension in lying exercises (providing this does not reproduce pain), where u lie on your stomache and prop up onto your elbows. Like arching your back.
I would be doing a lot of core stability exercises with the spine in neutral.
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thats it, i have mild and moderate loss of these and it does hurt when i try to touch my toes. i have started back doing bodypump/powerfit classes and it dont give me any grief. i have been walking and jogging on and off and this has been fine too. i had a knee reco in march of this year and i found out that my knee was stuffed from around early 2004 and i have carried that knee for around 5 years.......i will definately try more of these and see how i go.
 
check the hip of the knee reco side which i assume is on the same side of your pain?

it must barely move (internal and external rotation) if you've been carrying a knee for 5 years
 
cptkirk said:
put him into lumbar hyperextension?
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Yeah, lumbar extension (if it's a disc related problem and it sounds like it is).

Discs protrude or bulge out posteriorly. Lumbar flexion places more pressure on the anterior disc forcing the fluid out into the spinal cord direction (posteriorly), the fluid can then impinge on a nerve.
Lumbar extension puts pressure on the posterior disc, forcing the fluid anteriorly and therefore inhibiting it protruding out posteriorly.

It's called Mckenzie extension exercises and is widely given for acute disc problems.
 
Cats fan 16 said:
Yeah, lumbar extension (if it's a disc related problem and it sounds like it is).

Discs protrude or bulge out posteriorly. Lumbar flexion places more pressure on the anterior disc forcing the fluid out into the spinal cord direction (posteriorly), the fluid can then impinge on a nerve.
Lumbar extension puts pressure on the posterior disc, forcing the fluid anteriorly and therefore inhibiting it protruding out posteriorly.

It's called Mckenzie extension exercises and is widely given for acute disc problems.
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i didnt realise there was a disc between s1-2 seen as tho its a fused joint that doesnt allow any movement. i thought it was just a couple of holes for nerves to come out
 
have read about mckenzies once but can't quite rememer it, the one i read was from bill hartman doing a variation of it...is the test 1 effort usually? i think he does a repeated mckenzies test but i don't know of any exercise series

i don't like lumbar hyperextension for anything considering it simply reinforces the ordinary posture most of us already have
 
cptkirk said:
have read about mckenzies once but can't quite rememer it, the one i read was from bill hartman doing a variation of it...is the test 1 effort usually? i think he does a repeated mckenzies test but i don't know of any exercise series

i don't like lumbar hyperextension for anything considering it simply reinforces the ordinary posture most of us already have
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yeah Mckenzies exercises are repeated, so you do repeated flexion or repeated extension. In a disc problem, flexion is likely to peripheralise pain-spread it down the leg (bad), while extension is likely to centralise pain to back (good), so if they get an increase in back pain from extension, but decreased leg symptoms this is positive, a good thing.

I wouldn't prescribe lumbar extension for anything other than a disc, as it shuts down the intervertebral foramen and can be the painful movement for injuries like: pars fractures, spinal canal stenosis, nerve root irritation (not disc related).

Do you mean ordinary as in lumbar extension which promotes thoracic kyphosis and then ultimately cervical chin poke?
 
Cats fan 16 said:
yeah Mckenzies exercises are repeated, so you do repeated flexion or repeated extension. In a disc problem, flexion is likely to peripheralise pain-spread it down the leg (bad), while extension is likely to centralise pain to back (good), so if they get an increase in back pain from extension, but decreased leg symptoms this is positive, a good thing.

I wouldn't prescribe lumbar extension for anything other than a disc, as it shuts down the intervertebral foramen and can be the painful movement for injuries like: pars fractures, spinal canal stenosis, nerve root irritation (not disc related).

Do you mean ordinary as in lumbar extension which promotes thoracic kyphosis and then ultimately cervical chin poke?
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i would say see a physio, preferably one that is well versed in mechanical diagnosis therapy (mckenzie therapy). accredited therapists can be found here http://www.mckenziemdt.org.au/therapists
 

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hey all, thanks for the advice and information, i have never heard of that mckenzie therapy before. there is actually a physio in wangaratta, who do this therapy. i live in shepparton which is about an hour away, so i will give this a try and will keep you all informed on my progress.

thanks very much again and yes it is a disc bulge...i had a look at my ct scan report.....it is on the opposite side of my knee reco and it is more painful than my knee problems....:D
 
I've been to every medical practitioner. Physios, chiros, naturopath, osteos. The last osteo I saw was very honest and said a bulge disc causes the pain and until that's fixed you'll always have pain. Problem for me and most of us, surgery is not an option. No doctor will operate unless it's a severe disc herniation.

The only option is core strengthening. It's hard work, but it controlled my pain to almost zero.
Activities that I would usually be in pain during or afterward, now I'm not. Also keep the back straight!
 
I have sciatic problems every so often....Voltarin Rapid 25 is the only thing that works. It was explained to me years ago that so often what causes it is actually a muscle strain....the muscle gets inflamed and presses on the nerve Which in turn flares up the nerve..

..makes sense to me and as nothing else works ... I take the Voltarin which is an anti-inflametary, and it soothes and calms the muscle which takes the pressure off the nerve... It works for me...

No operation for me ... won't have any ops on my back or nerves.
 
Foxx said:
How do they determine who should and who shouldn't?
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Most surgeons don't like doing it unless there's neurological deficit (loss of sensation or strength) or significant radiculopathy consistent with any abnormal findings on imaging.
Otherwise you'd need to have long term (at least 6 months if not more than 12) disabling pain as well as a spinal MRI that looks like a grenade has gone off in there.
 
Foxx said:
I've been to every medical practitioner. Physios, chiros, naturopath, osteos. The last osteo I saw was very honest and said a bulge disc causes the pain and until that's fixed you'll always have pain. Problem for me and most of us, surgery is not an option. No doctor will operate unless it's a severe disc herniation.

The only option is core strengthening. It's hard work, but it controlled my pain to almost zero.
Activities that I would usually be in pain during or afterward, now I'm not. Also keep the back straight!
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This was my conundrum for years

Used to flare up/I'd get injuries to lower back area after drinking on the weekend or something, took me over 8 years and my livelihood absolutely ruined in the process to figure it out.

Since then (2019 when I figured it out) I've gone hard on the posterior chain stuff, sumo deadlifts in particular, gave up all alcohol, I find too many or heavy squats/leg presses compresses the lumbar area, so I go light with those quad dominant movements also.

I've found this has helped me, but the alcohol inflammation was the biggest one. I'm 35 now, it'll take me a while to restablish myself with a few things, but slowly slowly chipping away at improving all aspects of my life.
 
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