Stop Sciatica Pain with Pilates

Sometimes back pain is sciatic pain. If you’ve been experiencing sudden pain in your back upon arising, a pain that travels down one of your legs, chances are it’s sciatic nerve pain. Sciatica is caused from either a herniated disk, tight muscles, or some type of injury to the nerves in the spine.

Other symptoms of sciatica include pain while bending, numbness, or tingling in the leg after prolonged sitting, a pins and needles sensation or pain felt around the mid-buttock to the side. These are usually chronic in nature, meaning they don’t just appear and then disappear quickly.

Because the sciatic nerve controls most of your lower body’s sensorimotor activity, anything that puts pressure on this nerve can cause some type of sciatic nerve pain. There are exercises known as Pilates that can help to alleviate some of these sciatic symptoms.

Pilates exercises won’t cure sciatica, but they may go a long way to helping you with gaining sciatic nerve pain relief. It’s very unlikely that Pilates will cause sciatica, although it is true that certain exercises may make a sciatic situation worse. If you have any type of sciatica, do not engage in any exercises that have you rolling like a ball, where you are rolling back and forth on your spine. That said, there are several other Pilates exercises you can utilize, and pain management doctors in Arizona can help develop a Pilates routine to help you alleviate sciatica pain.

Mat Exercises

Exercises such as the cat stretch, where you kneel on all fours, and gently round your back to an upwards curve, can be useful in alleviating sciatica symptoms caused by spinal stenosis.

The swan exercise is best for a herniated disc. Lie face-down, flat on the mat, with your elbows and forearms on the floor and your fingers under your shoulders. Lift your head, neck, and chest slowly from the floor, extending your spine. Return slowly to the floor and repeat 4 or 5 times.

Equipment Exercises

You can also gain sciatic nerve pain relief from the use of a Pilates chair. If you have a herniated or degenerated disc, lie face down on the machine with your hands against the pedals. Pushing down on the pedals, you can extend your spine.

Pilates exercises are best discussed with your pain management doctors in Maryvale and Mesa, AZ, in that they are qualified to recommend what will work best for your particular sciatica condition.