Since the easing of restrictions, we’ve been seeing lots of patients at Houghton Physical Therapy with extreme back pain caused by sciatica, with a pain shooting down the back of their legs.
Do you get a shooting pain down the back of your leg?
This pain could be sciatica.
Our Clinical Manager, Alex, said: I would be extremely surprised if at least 10 people didn’t walk, or hobble with severe pain sciatica causes, into the clinic each week with this very complaint.”
This blog post covers this regular question and everything you’d need to know about sciatica, including:
What is sciatica?
What causes sciatica?
How do I ease sciatica?
All our little health secrets are great for anyone, but they are essential reading for anyone aged 50+, and especially for those that are looking to get more active now that fall is here.
What is Sciatica?
Sciatica happens when something presses or rubs on the sciatic nerve.
Sciatica is a type of pain caused by an irritated nerve and the pain is often felt from your bottom right down to your feet (and sometimes even your toes!).
What Causes Sciatica?
Sciatica is most commonly caused by a slipped disc, which puts pressure on the sciatic nerve, and then causes the pain you’re feeling.
However, certain behaviors or factors can raise your risk of developing sciatica. The most common factors for developing sciatica include the following:
- As your body ages, it becomes more likely that parts will wear out or break down.
- Certain careers place a lot of strain on your back, especially those that involve lifting heavy objects, sitting for extended periods, or twisting movements.
- Having bad posture.
What Is A Slipped Disc?
A disc is a small fluid-filled sac that sits between the bones in your back, you have lots of these. It’s often better to think of them as little jelly donuts (little potentially painful jelly donuts!) and their purpose is to protect the bones in your back as you move.
As you bend forward, whether this is while picking something up or having generally bad posture, the discs are pinched at the front and the fluid inside the disc goes to the back. For example, imagine if you squeeze a jelly donut, the jam inside will move away from where you’re squeezing.
Now, imagine that you’re in a job where you’re always bending forward, leaning forward and/or picking up objects.
Eventually, this repetitive squeezing of the disc will cause the wall of the disc to wear down and the fluid will come out (much like the jelly donut we talked about!) However, instead of having sticky jelly fingers that can be cleaned, you now have a very painful shooting sciatic sensation as the disc presses on the nerve that travels all the way down the back of your leg.
How Can I Ease Pain Caused By Sciatica?
The problem is that if you completely rest when you’re in pain, not only does the disc stay slipped, but the muscles that control your lower back will become weak, and therefore provide less support to the already problematic and painful area.
Limiting the amount of time that you spend sitting can help too. I know what you’re going to say… “sitting doesn’t make it worse”, but we find that many clients are sitting in a modified or slouched way to avoid their pain.
This makes your pain last longer and often leaves you with an uncomfortable-looking posture long after the back trouble has gone.
Here’s Our Expert Tips To Help You Ease Your Sciatica Pain…
Don’t Stop Walking
Continue gentle exercises as soon as you can – anything that gets you moving can help.
Gentle walking can work wonders for those suffering from sciatica because regular walking spurs the release of pain-fighting endorphins and reduces inflammation.
Walking is one of the most overlooked forms of exercise, it’s simple, free, and one of the best ways to get more active, become healthier, and lose weight without too much effort.
Fix Your Posture!
Make sure you have a good posture when sitting and standing.
Bad posture can compress your discs and irritate the sciatic nerve, your speed of walking, length of the stride and the initial contact on the floor could be the reason why you’re in so much pain with your back.
Take a slower pace through taking slower steps and make sure you gently roll onto your toes and push off – this will shorten your stride.
When you walk with good posture, you take the stress away from your spine and engage the core abdominal and back muscles as they work in sync to get you moving.
The reality is that we were NOT designed to sit down for 9+ hours a day. Our bodies are not shaped to do so and we don’t have the natural ability to cope with spending all of our time sitting down. Sitting has become so frequent and extensive that I doubt you’ve ever questioned how much of it you actually do.
Sitting in a slouched position is one of the major causes of back pain, as the pressure from sitting damages the lower back, which then leads to sciatica and stiffness in the neck joints. Sitting up properly with your shoulders back and your back straight can help improve your posture, as well as limiting your time seated.
Alternate Heat And Ice Therapy
By using both heat and ice therapy, this can provide relief for sciatica. Ice helps with inflammation and heat encourages blood flow, but of which are essential to easing painful muscle spasms.
Stretch It Out!
Every day that you wake up and you’re not doing something small to help yourself to stay active, you’ll be getting stiffer and stiffer. You’ll be losing the flexibility of vital muscles and joints, and as this happens, you’re more and more likely to suffer from things like sciatica and other life-changing pains.
We’ve added a video link to our library of Yin Yoga videos, which will help give you some gentle stretching positions to ease your back pain. Try the Happy Baby pose.
Physical Therapy
Expert advice, exercises, and hands-on treatment provided by a physical therapist can help improve sciatica and chronic pain, as well as improve posture and strengthen your back muscles.
Would you like to see a physical therapist for free?
We realize some people want more than just some free health tips… That’s why we offer expert advice about the worry and frustration of sciatica and chronic pain – for FREE, in under 30 minutes.
Here are just a few of the things you will learn in one of our free taster sessions:
- What is the underlying cause of your back pain? (hopefully nothing too serious!)
- Roughly, how long will it take to fix my problem?
- What to do help – which doesn’t include painkillers, resting or surgery etc.
- What other, natural, drug-free methods are there to speed up recovery alongside treatment?
Our taster sessions are great for anyone that may be “unsure” if physical therapy is right for them, and they give you the opportunity to ask questions and see for yourself if we can help you.
We’ve got 5 taster sessions available this week. If you would like one of our limited taster sessions, please get in touch with the clinic using the contact details below, and mention to the person who answers the phone that you would like to have a free taster session.
Try to get into good, healthy habits as quickly as possible – starting today, in fact, you’ve picked one up already by reading this blog! In doing so, you’re going to give yourself the best chance you can of improving your sciatica, back pain, and of being active, healthy, and happy.
We’re Here To Help…
If you’re in pain and would like to talk to us about getting some help, some specialist advice, or if you are looking for a diagnosis, remember we are always here to help you… and we’re offering you the chance to have your first session for FREE.
P.S. Do you know someone with aches in their back?
Who do you know that is always telling you about their aches and pains? We would love to help them live a pain-free life too.
That person could be someone who you live with, work with, or an extended friend or family member, who is maybe suffering with some kind of ache or pain that we can fix.
Forward this blog post full of health tips on to them. Even better, if you refer someone to come see us at the clinic, you’ll be entered into our “Referral for Rewards” prize drawing, to say a huge thank you.
