Sciatic Exercise doesn’t really sound like something you want to know about. You are in pain. How are you supposed to exercise? But really, though bed rest may be a very good idea when you are experiencing an acute sciatica flare up, when going on too long it’ll do you more harm than good (too long is more than a couple of days). It is best to get back to your regular routine as soon as you can (of course avoiding what got you here in the first place). When your pain lessens, start looking into the different possibilities for sciatica exercises, according to the cause of your sciatica pain. What may do one condition a world of good may seriously aggravate a different condition. For that very reason you should always consult a physician before getting started with your sciatica exercises, since you need to know when you can start exercising, with what frequency and what types of exercises would do you good.
Now that I’ve said that, I’d like to take a closer look at a certain kind of sciatic exercise that will most likely be one of the most beneficial treatments for your sciatica: warm water exercises. Though it is true that during an acute flare up of your sciatica cold should rather be applied instead of warmth, once the first pain has simmered down and the healing process has started warm water therapy is very beneficial in several ways.
Soaking in a warm bath will help to relax your muscles, it’ll increase circulation and help to loosen tight muscles; it’ll also speed up the healing process and return mobility to you, since warm water makes the tightened muscles more pliable. To take a warm bath before starting to exercise might be a good idea, just don’t go too long so your body won’t overheat.
Now being relaxed and with loosened muscles, you could do some water exercises. These exercises are a lot easier to do than the normal kind, since being suspended in water takes most of the pressure from your weight off your spine, muscles, disks, ligaments and joints. This will also help reduce the pain that comes with some of the exercises, especially when you just started exercising and there is still some inflammation and stiffness present. It’ll also help with the fear of possible pain, which by itself can tense you up like a spring.
The density of the water will cause your muscles to work harder while at the same time reducing stress for the rest of your body. Even just walking or marching in water can help reduce muscle pain and spasms.
Exercises in warm water and water in general are a great point to start out on exercises altogether, be it after a sciatica flare up or for some other cause of back pain. Exercises in warm water are some of the most beneficial exercises. You get the reduction of inflammation due to increased circulation on one hand and the strengthening of the muscles on the other hand that you will need to keep your spine and sciatic nerve in good shape.
In addition to water exercises there is a wide variety to exercises you can work you way up to step by step. But before starting your back exercises (now that you’ve spoken to your physician and know which exercises are for your condition), make sure you always start with 5 minutes of warm up; like taking a short walk or using the exercise bike, or even just march in place.
At first you probably should only be doing gentle back stretching exercises and then gradually extend into back and abdomen strength building exercises. Also add some low impact aerobics to your routine at some point. If you find a good balance of all these exercises and you will use a wide variety of muscle groups, which in turn will prevent future flare ups.
So, to put it into a couple of sentences: Sciatica and exercises go together like pie and whipped cream, if you want to see some true and lasting changes in your situation. Just be sure you have consulted your physician before starting your exercises or to self-treat your symptoms and underlying causes for your sciatica, to make sure you know which kinds of treatments you can, should and shouldn’t do.
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