Sciatica is pain, numbness, or tingling down the back of your leg that originates in your back and travels down your leg. Oftentimes exercising and moving in certain ways can help to minimize these symptoms. This is a progression of the best physical therapy exercises to help you treat your sciatic nerve symptoms.
✅ HOW TO DIAGNOSE YOUR SCIATIC NERVE PAIN:
✅ SCIATIC TREATMENT FOR DEGENERATIVE DISC / STENOSIS:
✅ SCIATIC TREATMENT FOR PIRIFORMIS SYNDROME:
✅ HOW TO SLEEP WITH BACK PAIN/SCIATICA:
✅ SCIATIC NERVE RELIEF STRETCHES AND EXERCISES:
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THIS IS PHASE ONE OF A 2-PART SERIES! SEE PHASE TWO/STRENGTH EXERCISES HERE:
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(Below we'll discuss sciatic nerve pain as related to the most common cause – a bulged or herniated disc. If your sciatica is coming from a different source, this may not be the best exercise progression for you. You're encouraged to consult with your doctor or physical therapist for an individualized treatment plan.)
As a doctor of physical therapy, spine injuries are the most common condition that I treat.
It seems like at one time or another low back pain or neck pain inflicts all of us. To a degree, almost all of us will experience some degree of low back or neck pain.
Depending on the cause of your low back pain, you may experience the accompanying symptom of sciatica. This is characterized by pain/numbness/tingling down the back of your leg. It can travel to your glute, hamstring, or (in more severe cases) down into your calf and ankle.
Today I wanted to share with you the best exercises for treating sciatic nerve pain. This method of treatment is it clinically proven and backed by dozens of research studies to be the most effective exercise treatment for a common cause of sciatic nerve pain.
PHASE ONE: LAYING PRONE ON YOUR STOMACH
The simplest way to promote extension through your spine is to lay down prone on your stomach. This will create a natural curve to your back and vertebrae which will push the disc in the right direction. Gravity also works on the disc in this position to draw it closer to the center.
I recommend people start here until they can lay in this position for 2–3 minutes. When this becomes comfortable and there is no increase in your sciatic nerve symptoms, progress to Phase 2.
PHASE TWO: PRONE ON ELBOWS
Bring your elbows directly under your shoulders and lift your chest up off of the floor. Your hips/stomach should stay in contact with the floor. In this position we promote increased extension through your lower back and draw the disc a little more aggressively back in the place.
Hold this position on your elbows for about 10 seconds, then lower your chest back down to the floor for 10 seconds, then repeat. This prone on elbows extension activity should be repeated 10 times for 10-second holds two times a day.
When prone on elbows becomes comfortable and there is no increase in your leg symptoms, progressed to Phase 3.
PAHSE THREE: HALF PRONE PRESS UPS
Now bring your hands directly under your shoulders. Lift your chest up off of the floor by extending your elbows approximately halfway. Once again, your goal is to keep your stomach and pelvis in contact with the floor and promote extension through your lower back.
Hold this position for 10 seconds and then return to the full prone position with your chest on the floor. Rest 10 seconds and then repeat.
Perform 10 reps of 10 second-holds two times daily.
When Phase 3 becomes comfortable with no increase in symptoms in your legs or pain in your back, progress to Phase 4.
PHASE FOUR: FULL PRONE PRESS UPS
A full prone press up is performed in a similar manner to the half press-up; the difference now is that your goal is to fully extend your elbows. Try to keep your pelvis/stomach in contact with the floor as your extend your elbows fully and raise your shoulders as high as they can go.
Perform 10 reps of 10 second-holds two times daily.
When Phase 4 becomes comfortable with no increase in symptoms in your legs or pain in your back, progress to Phase 5.
PHASE FIVE: STANDING BACK BEND
The standing back bend is performed by leaning over as far as you can backwards from a standing position. This is a little more aggressive than those I previously showed because it is in a weight-bearing posture and you do have to engage some muscles to keep from falling over. However, this is a great exercise to work some of your disc material back into place and minimize those sciatic nerve symptoms.
Try holding this position for 5 seconds, come forward for 5 seconds, and then repeat that 10 times.
Properly treating sciatic pain with the right exercises at the right time can be a very effective, non-invasive form of treatment for these symptoms.
Great progression of effective exercises! Let me know if they help you out in a comment!
Exercises start at about 9:00
Thank you so very much for your explanation and demonstrations.
Thank you for helping others out, Aussie Girl! I hope these help you!
After suffering on and off with sciatica for years and last week having a massive episode of back spasms. Literally knocking me on the floor! Stumbled across your video late last week and forced myself to run through a few repetitions over the weekend… wow!
You sir are a life saver and this will now be part of my weekly routine.
Amazing advice that will hopefully keep me upright and pain free going into my late 50’s 🙏
I have mild sciatica pain once in a while and I always rely on these exercises to reduce it. It has worked for me! Thanks doc!!!
I am glad these are helping you and thanks for commenting!
Hi Thanks alot very informative, 😊 I have got a bulging disc and stenosis what sort of exercise would you recommend?
It worked!! I can walk again pain free after a days of stiffness and pack pain. THANK YOU! For the education and the exercises. 🥰
Oh, what wonderful news! You are so welcome!
Thank you doc😀. I have a sciatic pain for more than 5 years due to slip disc and these exercises really helps a lot.🙏
You are welcome! I am glad these are helping and thanks for sharing!
Hi, well explained about the issue and causes.
I’ve a question: the exercise you told for the disc bulge is due to bending down and creating bulge on the back side, however, what would be the exercise for the bulge on the front or any other side. For example, I have disk bulge due to excessive sittings which is causing Sciatic Pain in my right leg. Can you please help me a good exercise for the same. Further, please let me know if we can discuss my issue further. Appreciate your support.
+1
Thank you for your videos, I love how you explain the experience/stretch’s. My therapist has given me most of these sciatica nerve exercises, but with out the explanation, as time does not really allow it. This started happening after a full knee replacement surgery. The pain has caused me to lose sleep to many nights. Anyway thanks for your supporting videos 👍🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
You bet! I am glad you are finding them helpful and thanks for commenting!
Congratulations
@Tone and Tighten
I am in extreme pain can’t sleep can’t drive all the time pain pain pain
I tried the exercises just once, I was amazed by the result. I could feel the effect immediately
Thank you very much for relieving me of the distress.
Please let me know, how many times the exercises had to be repeated in a day. Once again thank you
Wonderful news! Try to do these at least once or twice a day for best results!
Oh my gosh this actually worked for me I thought I was going to get paralyzed with the weak legs, right hip and back pain! After doing this exercises only once it went away! I’ll do this atleast every week helpful video ❤️
Thank you for explaining everything in such detail. I’ve only just started, but the gradual cobra stretches seem to be helping. I do add a few breaths of rest in between stretches. Thank you so much.
You bet! I am glad they are already helping!
Thanks so much for the simplified explanation of this problem. I’m hoping you can also give us some exercises for the other causes.
Hey brother, thank you so much for explaining this so clearly. This pain has just been making my day to day miserable. I love being active, so when I have these pains it just really wears on me. I appreciated your explanation and how to work on the problem. Blessings.
I am a senor citizine may be I canot do it
Thank you for the anatomy and physiology to the creation of sciatic pain. I have been battling for four years without any of the reliefs. Hope to begin with your advice and May God help me to be well soon. Thank you!
I also have pain from prolong sitting
@Tone and Tightenright hip and nerve pains like pins and needles in both feet and toes. I guess sciatica gets us even when working out and fit people too
@David Harrison being dehydrated will shrink muscles and inflame joints I started drinking only water and changed my diet a little bit and have been feeling a lot better
@Man Zach thx. I drink a lot of water daily. It’s just sciatica which is causing these issues. I use stationary bike. It often reduces pain and exercises to reduce sciatica but I guess not going away as it’s a chronic issue
@Goon Hoom lippi
@Tone and Tighten is there no answer or suggestions for the senior citizen?
Oh God so you mean no drugs for sciatica problem?
@*Julie Marie*;
I just started doing these stretches today. About how often should I do them and for about how long? I’m at the part where the pain is in my lower leg. I’m coming off ankle surgery(broke it) so I’m having those sciatic pains now that I’m back to work. Thank you for the info!
@Nan’s Global Kitchen Get a bar hung up somewhere, grab onto the bar and hang from it, toes on the ground. You want it set up so you can hang but still have your feet or toes on the ground, so your not using any back or stomach muscles to hold your feet up. This will remove the pressure from gravity squishing your disc, and allow some relief. Hang for 20-30 seconds, and then immediately do the standing bending back exercise for 5-10 seconds 3 times. I use a door way to hold onto when doing the back bend, which helps a lot. Do this 3 times in a row, 3 times a day, and you should definitely start to get some relief. Hanging makes it so your disc is not being squished, so when you do the back bends it helps it go back to where it should be. If you don’t hang before you do the back bend, you might just be squishing the disc further out when you do the back bends. While doing the back bends you could also try small side bends, so instead up bending perfectly strait, you bend to the side just a tad bit. If the disc is bulged to the back and side, strait back bends wont be as beneficial, so a very small side bend might be what you need to relieve the pressure on the nerve.
Another thing i have done, that has helped, is fill a bath with hot/warm water, soak for 20 minutes, and do back bends in the tub on my back. Sit against the back of the tub, with your butt on the tub bottom, and slowly slide your back down the tub, not moving your butt, so your doing the same bend as a standing back bend. The warm water, and weight from your upper body in the tub, will help ease the bending, and will focus the bend more on your lower back, where the bulged disc is located. Just slowly slide down and hold it for a few seconds and repeat, every minute, a few times. Start out with small bends, and then work up to further bends if it doesn’t make things worse.
I came across this video after suffering from sciatic pain for almost a week. I have only done this exercise for 10 minutes and my pains have reduced. Thanks for making this video 🙏.
Wonderful news and you are very welcome!
That’s. Useful I. do. Have. same. Problem
I’m so glad these exercises are actually working nd it’s healing my pain every single day… Thank you doc so much ..
My pleasure! I am glad they are helping!
So helpful. Thank you so much
Yah ! active scheduled persons are most disturbed !! They know what they face !!
@Nan’s Global Kitchen I’ve had sciatica for 4 years
About a 4 from 1-10
Yoga exercises fixed my problem but you have to stick to em. It took a few months till the pain disappeared and now I’ve been pain free for 1 1/2 years.
And to think of the money and time I had spent on physicans chiropractors acupuncturist and massage therapist. No one explain it like this are showed me the correct exercises to do…
You can find a great video, Yoga by Celest for Herniated Disc.
God’s peace be with you.
Your vid’s are the best! Great explanations that really help me understand what’s going on with my body. Absolutely love all the exercises you teach. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much! I appreciate your kind comment and support!
Thank you for sharing these, It helped me. I started doing daily stretching to relieve the uncomfortable tension. Most of the stretches were forward, Without knowing it I did these two stretches backwards couple of times in my routine without thinking much of them. And left them out cause they were not part of the routine I am used to. But today I watched your video and diliberately did these backward bends. The relief was magnified and felt straight away. From now on these backward bends are in my routine.
I remember those stretches before and after an exercise regime. But life went on and one forgets, until pain comes back. Thanks so much for the demonstration. It helps.
You are welcome!
I’ve been suffering from lower back pain on and off for about 8 weeks now. I’ve just seen your video. Read most the comments and they all sound positive. I’m going to start the stretches today. Fingers crossed 🤞
I hope you find them helpful!
@Lily Trieu bj
Hi first time I’ve done it it’s brilliant definitely works