What is the scientific nerve?
Sciatic nerve pain is so excruciating and debilitating that you don’t even want to get off the couch. With a lifetime prevalence of 10 to 40 percent, you probably know more than one person with this condition.
The sciatic nerve starts in your lower back, hips, and buttocks and travels down each leg and bends at the knees. When there is a problem in any part of this pathway, vein pain occurs.
Common causes of sciatica include:
damaged disk
spinal stenosis (also known as spinal stenosis)
injury
Sciatic pain can be caused by a condition called piriformis syndrome. The piriformis muscle starts at your buttock and runs from the edge of your back to the top of your thigh. Sometimes this muscle can spasm and trap the nearby sciatic nerve. As a result, seat pain can occur.
According to certified physical therapist Mindy Marantz, sciatica pain can be caused by a variety of reasons. “Identifying what’s not moving is the first step to solving the problem,” he explains. Often the most problematic parts of the body are the back and hips.
Certified strength and conditioning specialist Dr. Mark Kovacs says the best way to relieve most sciatic pain is to do “any stretch that can externally rotate the hips to provide some relief.”
Here are 10 exercises to do just that:
the position of the lying pigeon
figure of a sitting dove
forward pigeon position
in the shoulder opposite the knee
seated back stretch
standing hamstring strain
main seat extension
standing piriformis stretch
the groin and long abductor muscles are stretched
scissor tendon strain
- Pigeon lying position
The pigeon pose is a common yoga pose. It works to open the hips. There are many variations of this stretch. The first is the starting version of the so-called horizontal position of the pigeon. If you are just starting your treatment, you should try lying down first.
While on your back, raise your right leg at a right angle. Clasp both hands behind your thighs and interlock your fingers.
Lift your left leg and place your right ankle on top of your left knee.
Hold this position for a while. This helps stretch the piriformis muscle, which sometimes becomes inflamed and presses on the sciatic nerve, causing pain. It also stretches all the deep rotator cuff muscles.
Do the same exercise with the other leg.
Once you can do the lying version without pain, work with your physical therapist on the sitting and forward versions of the pigeon pose.
