Suffering with Sciatica at the moment
Pain starts in right butt cheek,back of calf numb and pins and needles in foot.
Anyone know of exercise i can do to help
Cheers

If you have a small ball such as a tennis ball, sit on it and roll around until it really hurts, then hold it there for around 30 seconds.

It’s basically the neuromuscular technique – self administered.

Get a proper diagnosis from a physio on the cause and ask them to advise you on your own home rehab plan, several things may cause it and you need a plan of rehabilitation

Speak to your GP. I ended up having a scan and it is due to a prolapsed disc pressing on the nerve. I do have a whole list of exercises given to me by the physio but I’m not sure I should pass them on as I’m not qualified to say what is or isn’t appropriate. I came very close to having an op but then it improved. I do physio exercises and also attend a back class which is run by the physio department once a week which is basically a 1 hour workout with exercises designed to strengthen your core.

Hello dadandlad

I had the same problem, I went to see an osteopath and was given manipulations and some exercises.

Here’s what I do I have a very hot bath and then warm you leg and arm muscles up, just rotate your arms and walk/ dance around for your legs.

Once I’ve warmed them up or if you don’t want to do that, straight after my bath, I get something comfy for the floor, then lie on it face down, then I lift my left arm with my right leg, gently and slowly only until it feels uncomfortable, then I do it with the other side right arm left leg.

I can feel the pull on my lower back and, those muscles on me where very week and needed to be stregthend, the muscles should take the weight not the vertebrae and discs, took me about 3 to 6 months to get a good amount of mobility and strength, that said I had a slipped disc.

Remember this is a life style changte don’t just do it until it clears and then go back to your old ways, do it once a day it only takes 10mins, but works wonders.

It did for me anyway, I’m not and expert and this is only a suggestion 😀

Go and see your doctor.
My sciatica, symptoms much like yours, started in December and I went to the doctor in Jan/Feb and he told me I’d almost certainly slipped (aka herniated/prolapsed) a disc.
He referred me to the physio, who couldn’t really do anything except give me some advise on how to minimise the pain and not exacerbate the problem. She also monitored my reflexes, nerve sensitivity and muscle strength over the next couple of months. She then referred me back to my doctor requesting that I see the consultant at the hospital. I got MRI scanned and low and behold big bit of lower-most disc poking out onto my left sciatic nerve. It is getting better but it’s very slow. I’m booked in for an epidural steroid injection in a couple of weeks.
Good luck and be patient.

Sciatic pain is not all the same as said above. I had very similar to you – had totally different treatment to everyone up there. It isn’t gone totally, but I know what I need to do to keep on top of it.

Sorry, wasn’t trying to suggest it was the same as mine, just that it could be and should be properly diagnosed and treated.

Cheers everyone
Looks like first step is get booked into doc’s and hoefully diagnosed
Funny enough im most comfortable sat on the bike with no weight on my legs.
Will keep you all posted once i get into doctors,meanwhile just hobbling round to try and keep moving

My doctors are a bunch of idiots, I would go and see an ostepath ask for some exercises and then make sure you stick to what ever they tell you to do.

Doctors are good at treatments and pushing drugs, it’s actual healing they suck at!

Hi

it might also be worth checking for sore points in your piriformis muscle. On some people this intertwines with the sciatic muscle and leads to sciatica type pain – piriformis syndrome:

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/sciatica/what-piriformis-syndrome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piriformis_muscle

I had bad pains like this a couple of years ago for quite a while causing me to hobble about, then stumbled across a suggestion of the above syndrome whilst read “The Stark Reality of Stretching”.

I then prodded about a bit and found a sore spot in my butt cheek and started hammering it with a percussion massager and the pain eventually went.

Try this – bend over and touch your toes then stand up again repeatedly for a few minutes. If it gets worse it’s a disc problem. If it gets better your nerve is trapped somewhere. Simples.

that sounds a bit simplistic to me…

Any idiot can make things complex.

The repeated bending makes the gunk in the disc move to the edge and compress the nerve if there is a disc problem. If it’s a nerve problem it gets the nerve sliding and makes things better.

Surrounded by zulus
It would be a miracle if i could touch my toes 😀 even as a kid couldnt do it so not much chance now

Any idiot can make things complex.

What if the problem is neither of those options? Would it not misdiagnose the solution?

If the problem is neither of those then the pain will stay the same.

dadandlad – your lack of flexibility may well be what’s causing your problems now. may is suggest some pilates as a way to reduce your symptoms.

I’ve noticed some sciatica since a ride a few days ago but seems to be getting better so hopefully nothing serious. Not sure what caused it but had lowered the bars on my road bike by 10mm – seemed comfortable at the time. Now put them back up and will see how I get on but had a good ride yesterday and feel OKish now; no pain at all whilst riding which is nice.

Try this – bend over and touch your toes then stand up again repeatedly for a few minutes. If it gets worse it’s a disc problem. If it gets better your nerve is trapped somewhere. Simples.

When mine was at it’s worst I could only raise my straight left leg about 10 degrees before the pain went zinging down my leg into my ankle and toes. Now I can probably raise it to about 40 degrees. No hope of touching my toes!

The only way to properly diagnose a slipped disc is to have an MRI scan.