Sciatica SOS!

SYMPTOMS OF SCIATICA

• Pain: typically a burning or electric shock sensation that shoots or radiates down one leg. You’ll most commonly feel this when you cough, sneeze, bend or lift your legs upward when lying on your back.

• Tingling or “pins and needles” (paresthesia): similar to the feeling you get when your leg falls asleep.

• Numbness: you can’t feel sensations on your skin in areas of your back or leg. This happens because signals from your back or leg are having trouble getting up to your brain.

• Muscle weakness: a more severe symptom that means your muscle command signals aren’t getting to their destinations in your back or legs. \xa0

• Loss of control of your bladder and/or bowels (when you don’t have an obvious stomach bug): this is a very severe symptom. It means signals that control your bladder and bowels aren’t reaching their destinations at all.

PRIMARY CAUSES OF SCIATICA

• Herniated Discs: Your spinal discs are like jelly-filled donuts that act as cushions between your vertebrae. An aligned spine will allow the pressure on these discs to be evenly distributed so all is right in their world. However, when your spine is in an overly flexed (rounded) position, it puts a ton of pressure on only one side of the disc. This makes it bulge (herniation) out the opposite side. That bulge then presses on the sciatic nerve and…. ZING! You get lightning down the leg.\xa0

• Spinal Stenosis: This is when the spinal canal narrows, leading to increased pressure on the sciatic nerve. Aging, excess weight, past injury or surgeries to a joint, and misaligned joints can all contribute to this.

• Piriformis Syndrome: True sciatica originates at the lumbar nerve root. However, because these tissues are all so snuggly within the space of the hip socket, a tight piriformis muscle can squeeze the sciatic nerve like a Boa Constrictor. The pain from this can mimic sciatica 🤯.\xa0New research\xa0also suggests that an overly developed piriformis muscle can crowd the space it has in the hip socket, leading to the same effect.

OUR APPROACH: FIX YO SH*T AND FIND RELIEF FROM SCIATICA

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We know pain can be scary, but you don’t need to be afraid of it. Remember, it’s a signal! Listening to it when it’s talking to you quietly is always best, but no matter where you are on the pain scale, you can do something about it!

Instead of slapping a bandaid on your sciatica symptoms, address the root cause. Strengthen your muscles, improve your spinal alignment (including\xa0when you sleep!) and enhance your movement mechanics for a healthier and happier body.

For three, MoveU approved, exercises that help relieve sciatica pain,keep reading!