Is It Really Sciatica?

SCIATICA! It is like the new buzz word of the fitness and pain realm. It seems everywhere you look someone either has sciatica, is getting over sciatica, or thinks they have it. It is a mysterious pain that somehow everyone in the world gets, but everyone has a different way they "cure" it. But how did this all start and why is this now a thing?

Open up your Instagram to any chiropractor, physical therapist, or anyone in the movement medical field, and you are bound to come across a video they have done on sciatica pain before. And that their treatment, and ONLY their treatment can "cure" your pain. In the fitness world it is the same as if you said fake news, it travelled here too. But I want everyone to be aware of what can help but mostly that sciatica is PREVENTABLE. Let's address the things that will cause it so we won't do it and don't have to watch crazy claims about how to help it.

Sciatica pain, quite simply put, is tight legs that ran up your hamstrings, under your glutes and into your lower back. THAT'S IT. It is a simple as you have very tight legs that is now aggravating your lower back. That is the pain you are feeling. Probably months of tight legs culming all together to this moment in the doctors office. If we simply stretched more, this pain is completely preventable and the funny part is it is one of the only muscle pains that you can bring on yourself from neglect. No more tight legs, no more lower back pain.

But Ally, I already have sciatica, what do I do? Well, I like to think of sciatica as a weird cruel joke our bodies play on us as a reminder to take care of itself. It's so easy to forget to stretch, but it takes so LONG for the pain to go away. If you have sciatica already, the best you can do is keep stretching your legs (don't overdo it), ice and heat the area over and over. Basically take it easy and wait it out. No one likes to hear that, but again we're talking about months of tight buildup here, it won't go away in a day.

MYTH

By far the biggest myth I hear and get told about sciatica, is that it is lower back pain. Boy oh boy let me tell how you can mess up and send yourself into pain for even longer. Sciatica is NOT lower back pain, you might feel the pain there but it did not originate there. In orthopedics we are always trying to find the original source of the problem, not really where a patient says they feel the pain, because it could be in an entirely different part of your body. Did you know if you have tight feet that that can cause sciatica? Bet you didn't think about stretching your feet before. Unless you have a pre existing injury to your lower back, lower back pain 99% of the time is caused by tight legs and feet. Please do not get it confused. If you start stretching your lower back while you have sciatica, you are causing more damage and inflammation to the area. Inflammation that just keeps sitting there the longer you stretch your lower back and the longer you will stay injured. This is also why you will hear people blatantly say "I've had sciatica pain for years now, I just deal with it." Probably because no one has mentioned their legs to them and wants their money for every yoga class or chiropractic visit they can get their hands on.

My neighbor has reoccurring sciatica pain and I told her to simply stretch her legs before and after her walks, and she still only does these minute stretches her PT gave her from a year ago. But hey, to each their own right?

Now I am not going to get on here and explain specific stretches you need to do for your legs for this to be a "miracle" worker. I have plenty of stretching videos for you to find on here and stretch your legs.The point is: STRETCH YOUR LEGS! Whatever way you want! Just DO it. And you will never feel the pain of sciatica again. Please take care of your body so it can take care of you!