Sciatica | The Fix
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00:00 Did you know up to 40% of adults will experience sciatica pain in their lifespan?
00:04 Today I'm going to show you a few exercises to address mobility and strength
00:08 along the path of the sciatic nerve to help alleviate symptoms.
00:11 Hi, my name is Dr. Brett Warner, physical therapist at Bespoke Treatments in New York City.
00:21 Today we're going to go through a few exercises to address sciatic nerve pain.
00:25 The sciatic nerve is formed by a combination of lumbar and sacral nerve roots in the lumbar spine.
00:30 It then courses through the entire leg from the buttocks through the back of the thigh
00:34 into the calf and into the foot. As the largest nerve in the body,
00:39 it's a common site for neurological symptoms in the legs such as pain, weakness, burning,
00:44 or tingling. Sciatica is an umbrella term for pain along the sciatic path and it can be caused by
00:52 many different unique situations and activities. Though it's commonly felt with people who need to
00:57 sustain awkward positions for work, sit for long periods of time, or lift a lot of heavy objects.
01:03 Because sciatica is such a broad term, be sure to consult with your licensed medical provider
01:08 to ensure that you're targeting the exact root of your specific symptoms. Today we're going to go
01:13 through two movements to help alleviate entrapment points or compression along the sciatic nerve.
01:18 The second two movements will help to re-strengthen and stabilize the lumbopelvic region
01:23 to make sure that your symptoms do not become continuous or chronic. The first exercise is
01:29 going to be the supine sciatic nerve glide. This is a great exercise to perform when you're having
01:34 symptoms. You can't exactly stretch nerve tissue but you can glide the nerve between the surrounding
01:40 soft tissue structures to relieve any distal entrapment points. So Vanya is going to start
01:45 on his back with one leg straight. He's going to bring the other leg to about a 90 degree hip angle
01:50 and hold behind the knee. He's then going to extend his knee as straight as his hamstring
01:56 length will allow. From here he's going to point his ankle and toes away from him while simultaneously
02:03 flexing his neck, chin toward chest. Then he will bring his ankle and toes back towards his shin
02:10 while lowering his head back down. And what he's doing here is putting tension on when he brings
02:16 his toes toward him and then taking tension off when he takes his toes away. I would recommend
02:23 performing this for three sets of 20 repetitions. The second exercise is the pigeon pose. As the
02:29 sciatic nerve exits your pelvis it passes under the piriformis muscle and tightness or spasming
02:35 this muscle can compress the nerve and cause symptoms. This is going to be a great stretch
02:39 to help reduce tension in the piriformis. So starting from the hands and knees, Van's going
02:43 to bring one leg in and across in front of him so the outside of the leg and knee is on the ground.
02:48 He's going to sink his bottom back behind him towards the ground while stretching his other
02:54 leg behind him. In this variation I'm going to have Van extend his lower back with his elbows straight
03:02 to get a nice lumbar extension with the stretch through the glute. This is especially healthy
03:09 if you have discogenic causes such as a bulging disc or a herniated disc. I would recommend
03:15 performing this for 30 second holds three times. The next exercise we're going to do is the prone
03:21 isometric back extension. This is intended to engage the lumbar extensor muscles and abdominal
03:27 muscles in order to help stabilize your spine and prevent it from flexing forward. So Van's going to
03:34 start on an elevated surface like a bench or the edge of your bed. He's going to lie forward under
03:39 his stomach bringing his feet up. He's then going to slowly lift his hands away and hold this
03:46 position. He's not extending up from where he's at but he's keeping his spine neutral and flat.
03:52 You're going to hold this for as long as you can. I recommend holding within two to three seconds of
03:57 failure and repeating five times. The fourth exercise is going to be a plank with a hip
04:03 extension. This is a great exercise again for controlling core stability and preventing excess
04:09 extension of the spine. Adding the hip extension helps get activity in the gluteus medius and
04:15 maximus muscle which are two muscles that can be weakened with dysfunction in the sciatic nerve.
04:20 So Van is going to start in a forearm plank position making sure that the elbows are
04:25 stacked directly below the shoulders, upper arms perpendicular to the floor. From here he's going
04:30 to bend one knee to about 90 degrees and then extend the hip by pushing that foot up towards
04:37 the ceiling. You should not get any extension in the lumbar spine but it should remain isolated
04:43 in the hip. He's going to squeeze through his quad for a nice stable support through the legs.
04:47 I would recommend performing this for three sets of 15 repetitions to work on endurance
04:52 in the trunk and glute musculature. These are a few exercises that can reduce tension along
04:57 the sciatic nerve and restabilize your core to help you get back to your pain-free day-to-day life.