Put my back out the weekend before last as I made an heroic “save” to stay on the bike when the front wheel washed out in the snow (bloody plus tyres).

Had a couple of rides after that and felt better on the bike than off, but pain got worse when off bike and was diagnosed with sciatica on Tues.

Now on Naproxen which is working quite well for the pain. The sciatica is on the mild side and mixed with muscular pain.

GP said stay off bike for the coming weeks, however I got the strong impression this was in the absence of knowledge of the subject and arse covering.

So I’m looking for your success stories in riding while recovering from relatively mild sciatica. Or if you tried it and died.

It was the only thing that helped tbh, along with hanging from doorframes.

Did all the physio, but as soon as I could sit on the bike after about 3 weeks, I did five minutes on the turbo and built up from there.

Couldn’t feel the leg or knee for about 12 months, so had to learn how to ride standing up again.
Very hard to feel top dead centre on the duff leg, so hard to maintain any rhythm.

Had to force myself to move around and stand up on the bike, but as the feeling came back to the knee it became so much easier.

Local drop in physio centre at Burnley Hospital were superb, btw.

Naproxen didn’t touch mine.
Amitriptalyne helped me sleep, but leaves you a bit spaced out during the day.
I start drinking a lot of coffee.
🙂

I had sciatica, and lost some strength in my left leg, and feeling in the bottom of my foot. Also had a slipped disc as a bonus.

Cycling was fine, but walking wasn’t, and going upstairs was challenging at times. Stretching exercises is where it’s at. Find a physio.

It’s all fine now apart from a patch on the bottom of my foot where there’s no feeling(*).

(*) According to my children, this is now the same as my heart.

Take it *very* easy, no lifting of heavy objects at all. Sciatica is just a symptom, the cause could be muscular or a prolapsed disc or… who knows.

Ahh man I feel for ya. I had it down the side of my right leg, doc said rest but I did the opposite, gentle road riding on my mtb and built up up. Sometimes you have to make your own decisions

Happened to me in Feb. My Physio encouraged cycling,just short distances on the road,and it definitely helped. By that I mean, when it was bad I would ride around the block a few times, a mile at most,and the pain would go away almost instantly. There also a specific
exercise where you lie on your back knees bent then put your left ankle on your right knee and pull your right leg up as far as you can. Then push your left knee back out. There is probably a video on YouTube that will do a better job of describing it.

Foam roller for myofascial massage, longer the muscles surrounding the injury stay tight the worse they get.
Roll every night and if needed a gently stretch in the mornings after a hot bath/shower.

I personally use a basketball rather than a roller as its harder and gets my tight bits better. Roll either side of the spine not directly on it.

Try this stretch for lower back, don’t force it relax the muscles and breath..

If its lower to mid back, bring the knees higher up towards the chest and stretch.

Stretch in post above is a piriformis stretch, if these get tight they can cause lower back pain/issues, you can also roll the glutes and get the piriformis

Thanks for the replies. Really good to hear that others have found cycling beneficial, as that was my experience too.

I should clarify that the sciatic pain and numbness is very mild for me, just the odd weird pain in my hips and my foot goes numb if I pull it up behind me for a thigh stretch.

I’m having to limit my movements a bit, but started out a MTB ride in a lot of pain on Sunday and after doing a couple of drops and riding some awkward roots I felt much better.

Concerned about stiffening up too much if I don’t stay active. Also trying to do my normal stretches where pain allows – similar to your suggestions actually Golddigger.

Modolo Dumbo bars https://www.modolo.it/products/trekking-handlebars/modolo-dumbo-standard/ saved my biking life after my lower back completely went in summer 2008, including sciatica, while taking Dichlophenac for ~9 months.

I often think of trying them on the Wazoo for commuting duties, to see what they are like these days, having not used them since ~2011.

Find a good sports physio and listen to them.

It sucks. But keep active. Keep riding. I had to ride boring for about a year. And learned to know my limits. When I get carried away it’s back. Which reminds me must stretch more.

I had a very bad bout of sciatica a few years ago , I had a job to walk let alone anything else it also kept me awake at night . Got fed up being stuck in the house and decided to give the bike a try , to my surprise it was the only thing I could do the was virtually pain free. I’d say go for it but be careful as everyone is different.

Good to hear that cycling can be OK with sciatica. I have it at the moment, the worst long term pain I’ve ever had, I haven’t cried from pain since I was a kid. Morphine was the only thing that allowed me to sleep, but after a couple of weeks I’m off that now.
I’ll try a mini ride tomorrow and see how it goes.

As above, keep it moving!! If cycling helps then keep cycling. Resting it is by far the worst thing you can do

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BOjTegn9RuY[/video]

Didn’t manage to get out on the road bike today, but my instinct tells me MTB will be better anyway as it’s not such a rigid position. Gonna head out tomorrow for sure.

HughStew – that sounds awful, hope it works for you

I shortened the reach on my road bike just a touch which I think has helped stop it recurring.

Twice I’ve suffered from severe sciatica following disc problems twice.
On both occasions I continued to ride as it was the only way I could relieve the pain.
I struggled to get my leg over the bike but provided I didn’t have to stop too often it was great. Once on the bike I felt great.
My consultant was happy for me to continue it felt right for me, he said it wouldn’t cause any issues at all.

Yeah Sciatica is no fun at all.
I was diagnosed with it in October, and initially it was absolutely crippling. Couldn’t sit, my 20 minute drive to work was a test of will such was the pain, and getting out of the car once I’d been sat was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced.
My doctor was not much help, prescribing pain killers (dihydrocodeine and Amitryptaline) and putting me on the waiting list for physio (still waiting!).
So I used Google and found some stretches to do, including the ones in this thread. 3 times a day (after getting up, after work, before bed) and slowly things have improved. It’s still painful, but I’m not taking painkillers any more.
I plan to use my company medical insurance to get some treatment by a physio/sports massage therapist after Xmas.
I found being moderately active was best (fortunately my job keeps me quite active),stretching, walking, steady bike rides etc. After a ride I actually felt great! 🙂
As I say, still some pain, muscles in my right lower back/buttock/hamstring are still tight and i do get a bit of numbness/pins & needles in my right foot,but it doesn’t affect me on the bike at all now 😀
I’ve no idea how I got sciatica, my suspicion is that it was due to poor posture during frequent 5-7hour car driving trips to see family/friends as I first noticed it after one such trip. Maybe I’ll find out when I see a physio.

Keep at it, it’ll likely improve if you keep slowly working at it.

Quick update – a couple of days after posting this I woke up one feeling right as rain again. Been fine since.

Can do my stretches without pain now too, but need to work on flexibility as putting my socks on seems harder than it did before.

Best of luck to those of you still suffering.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c51yyZ4Sw_I[/video]

I regularly go through these exercises and see a chiropractor once a month.

I have a vertebrae that has a slight turn in it which limits the movement in my pelvis. If not checked and re-aligned regularly I get a flare up and cannot walk for a day or two, then it’s a week off to recover.
If your job involves sitting at a desk, get up and walk around often and do some stretching.

As soon as you feel any twinges, you should stop as it’s too late at that point. If it does flare up, use the old cold compress trick.

When exercising and riding regularly I can mange it very well. If I stop for a while, I get problems.

Best off luck.

http://www.spinesurgeons.ac.uk/patients/patient-information/nerve-root-pain-and-some-of-the-treatment-options

For those that truly suffer from sciatic nerve involvement ( or in my case L3/L4 Femoral nerve) this article and its related data on the BASS site is well worth reading.