Anyone have this? What is the cure? How long to recover?
Anyone have this? What is the cure? How long to recover?
I have had it, and so has my friend Erin. It took us both a few months to get completely better. It is a nerve problem, so there isn't a whole lot you can do. Stretching my lower back and glutes seemed to speed the healing process, but there isn't a lot you can do but REST it and DON'T run until you are 100 percent... running one time could put you back weeks. Also, try laying on your stomach on top of a small pillow, as this releaves pressure on the nerves!
good luck!
thought i did for 2 years until i found out on a xray today that my bottom vertebrae never fused...decent chance i have a stress fracture to boot...
My experience with sciatica centered around my piriformis muscle in my butt. I had this pain in my ham and down my leg and I couldn't find anyone to tell me what the problem was. I finally went to a massage from a sports massage therapist, and he located the problem in my piriformis. (I was practically on the ceiling when he found it!) The sciatic nerve pierces the piriformis muscle, so since my piriformis was so tight, it was clamping down on the nerve, sending pain down my leg. I started going to see the massage guy every three weeks and did this for a year, keeping it under control. In between, I would sit on a baseball, and roll it around to massage the muscle. It's kind of a "hurts so good" kind of pain. Try to stretch this muscle. One stretch is to lay flat on your back, with your knees bent, pointing up, and your feet on the ground. Put the ankle of your bad leg in front of your opposite knee. Grab behind the opposite knee and pull towards your chest. You should feel a stretch in your butt in the piriformis area. Hope this helps.
First of all, "sciatica" means you have back and leg pain. The causes can be varied. Protruding discs, piriformis, sitting on your wallet for too long.... So one person's cure isn't going to work for everyone's.
That being said, my sciatica was also piriformis. The "magic cure" was deep tissue massage, that hurt like heck, combined with getting more hamstring and lower back flexibility.