Sciatica is the pain caused by the sciatic nerve. It is usually caused by the pain and discomfort caused by the compression of the sciatic nerve, and its effects are very significant, so it is one of the diseases that bother many people.
Once sciatica appears, the patient will feel pain in the lower back and buttocks, causing a great impact on life.
What is sciatica?
The sciatic nerve is the thickest nerve in the body, starting from the spinal cord in the lumbosacral region, consisting of the fourth and fifth nerve roots of the lumbar spine and the first, second and third nerve roots of the sacral spine, passing through the pelvis, penetrating from the sciatic foramen to connect the buttocks, then descending along the back of the thigh to the popliteal fossa (behind the head of the knee) and then branching out to become other nerves, finally reaching the foot.
From this we can learn that the sciatic nerve runs through the entire lower extremity and governs sensation and movement of the lower extremity. Therefore, the pain area of sciatica is usually in the lower back, buttocks and thighs, and some people have pain radiating to the calves and soles of the feet. As long as this nerve running through the lower extremity is compressed by any part of the body, it may cause pain and discomfort in the entire lower extremity.
Classification and causes of sciatica
We classify the causes of sciatica into two types: secondary sciatica and primary sciatica.
The first type, secondary sciatica. The nerves in the lumbar region are affected by lumbar disc herniation, lumbar osteophytes, lumbar misalignment, and pear-shaped muscle tension, which cause pain due to compression of the nerve roots. The area to be addressed for this condition is the lumbar region, and different modifications are made depending on the condition.
We often encounter cases caused by lumbar disc herniation, where the pain site is usually in the area of the hip bone, where the disc is subjected to unbalanced external forces, resulting in the rupture of the annulus fibrosus within the disc and the protrusion of the nucleus pulposus, causing pain. The pain in the hip bone caused by this kind of lumbar disc herniation usually occurs on one side, with the lumbar disc protruding to the back side, producing the symptoms of ipsilateral sciatic nerve compression.
The second type, primary sciatica. This sciatica is generally caused by sciatica, the pain area is mostly unilateral, there is no obvious back pain situation, is persistent dull pain, the pain can be aggravated when one side is cold.
How to solve sciatica
As we mentioned earlier about the causes of sciatica, different cases of sciatica need to be solved and improved in different ways.
The first one, sciatica caused by a herniated lumbar disc, we first need to solve the problem of the lumbar disc.
Relax the lumbar spine1
Kneeling position with legs, upper body on the ground, hands stretched forward, try to let the buttocks sit on the heels, and keep it for 3 minutes.
Relaxing the lumbar spine 2
Prone position, place a slightly thick towel under the abdomen, you can also place a yoga block or foam shaft, practice a total of 5 to 8 minutes a day, can hold 2 minutes at a time, repeat several times.
Stretching the lumbar muscles
In the prone position, support your body with both hands. You can support your elbows at 90 degrees in the early stage, and change to palms at a later stage after the situation has improved, and hold for 2 minutes.
Activate abdominal strength 1
Lie on your back, bend your hips and knees 90 degrees, straighten your hands upward and keep your waist close to the ground, hold for 2 minutes.
Activate abdominal strength 2
Lie on your back, spread your feet hip-width apart, slowly lift your hips upward with your tailbone inward, keeping your knees, hips and shoulders in a straight line, hold for 2 minutes, or you can do dynamic bridge pose, lift and then drop, repeat 15 times/group, 3 groups in total.
Increase hip flexibility
Lie on your back, bend your hips and knees 90 degrees, put your hands on both sides of your body, keep your waist close to the ground, keep your upper body still, move your hips and lower limbs alternately from side to side, try not to fall to the ground, 5 sets of left and right, gradually stack the times according to your situation.
The above actions should be practiced without obvious pain in the back, if the process of pain, you need to stop or return to the previous action, do not change the order of exercises at will.
If the sciatica is caused by muscles such as the pear-shaped muscle, these muscles need to be loosened to relieve their tension.
1、Self-stretching gluteal muscles
2、massage gun for sciatica
The main purpose of massage gun relaxation is to restore muscle elasticity, improve excessive tension, and avoid excessive tension squeezing nerve roots. Tension in the pear-shaped muscle is mostly seen in people who are sedentary and seldom move, so it is recommended to sit for half an hour to get up and move around.
Prone position, with the help of a supporter, massage the gluteus maximus region with a massage gun, which can also play a part in the tightness of the pear-shaped muscle.
The pear-shaped muscle is a deep muscle group and is taken in the prone position with the aid of a supporter who places his elbow over the pear-shaped muscle area to apply pressure. In the manual release, it is more recommended to use the tip head of the massage gun to release, because the pear muscle belongs to the deep muscle, the general palm of the hand can not massage, and need to use a smaller area of the object to achieve certain results.
When the adductors are too tight, the pelvis and hip joints can cause pressure on the sciatic nerve, so it is also very important to stretch the adductors.