sciatic nerve - ride or rest ??

vroomvroom

I have been suffering from stabbing pains in my right leg/hip over the past 6 weeks (all the signs suggest sciatic nerve)

I have been to see a physio who has massaged my leg (and wallet) with little effect
There appears to be some contradicting advice with regards riding my bike.
Should I continue to ride (I feel fine when ridding – no pain, however I have not ridded at all this week and I feel no better) Or continue to completely rest up ??

the pain is almost constant now

Ands

Did your physio give you any stretching or strengthening exercises to do?

I have all but eliminated my probs with pelvic, posture and strenghtening exercises & stretches. I do still get twinges but I manage them, mainly with stretching. Riding is not a problem for me altho I do get pains if I go for a long ride and I have skipped stretching the required area for a couple of days - but I know how to manage it these days.

drewfromrisca

I've been riding for past 3 years with trapped sciatic nerve. I tried resting it for a while but that got me nowhere so thought what's point of not riding if it's not going away???

vroomvroom

could hardly walk this morn when i woke up.

got on my bike and did 26 miles (sunny but freezing)

leg feels a bit better - so guess the answer is keep riding

Percy Veere

Back inflexion helps this. I had to have injections in my spine to stop sciatic pain, but certain exercises helped.

Things such as getting on all fours on the floor and flexing your back down towards the floor. Maybe google for back exercises. I went to a proper sports physio, and only needed 4 sessions to learn all the exercises.

ut_och_cykla

Physio and diagnosis first I would say. is it 'real' sciatica or 'false' (caused by nerve trapped in muscle rather than spine) . Probably ok cycling if you're in no pain doing so - but it might be making things worse over time - so get a proper diagnosis and exercie programme to ease/strengthen back first:

KINGGARY

I have been riding with sciatica now for the last 2 years. Both MTB and road. I find that even when I have had to leave my car on my knees due to the pain, cycling seems to give me some relief. During the last 12 months I have carried out core strength exercises daily (plank, reverse superman etc) and this has eased the problem far more than huge amounts of ibuprofen and physio i have been prescribed previously. The truth with back pain is that you have to experiment to find what works best on an individual basis. Good luck and remember to listen to your body.

keef66

Warm up properly when you're riding; take it easy and spin the pedals for the first 10 minutes. Then you can push as hard as you like. Make sure you stretch afterwards as you cool down. Hamstring and piriformis stretches are good.

I've been living with lower back pain and occasional sciatica since I slipped a disc 15 years ago. Almost any kind of physical activity is better than resting the thing, even picking spuds or laying a patio.

redvision

be careful with the sciatic nerve. if its causing pain then there is some inflamation somewhere and unless you rest it will gradually get worse and worse.

i suffer terribly from this problem and i am still waiting to see a specialist to get it sorted. some mornings its agony, others its not. admittedly cycling doesnt tend to cause too much pain, but running is a different matter.

anyway, this link might help:

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ents-27605

awallace

My experience has been that whilst it can hurt at any point, either standing, sitting or lying down, i find when it does flare up, exercise helps it so i would say work with what is comfortable. Running particularly loosens it.

peanut

vroomvroom wrote:

I have been suffering from stabbing pains in my right leg/hip over the past 6 weeks (all the signs suggest sciatic nerve)
Re: sciatic nerve - ride or rest ??

Rest.
If your sciatic nerve is being irritated then it is bound to be inflamed. The inflamation is what is giving you most of your pain.
Have you asked your quack for some Volterol yet ? its a very effective anti-inflamatory to reduce the inflamation.

You should also try hot and cold compresses which should help.

Until the nerve's inflamation reduces any irritation from exercise is simply going to exacerbate the situation and prevent healing of the nerve.

You need to find out what is causing the irritation of the sciatic nerve if it is a reoccurring or chronic condition . You might have a lumbar disc problem and /or possibly weak core muscles . I would ask the quack for a referal for a crt scan of your lumber sacral vertebra in case you have a bigger problem in the making like crushed, disintegrating or displaced disks.
Don't ignore the warning signs like I did . It took me 4 years to learn to walk properly again!

cyclopsbiker

peanut wrote:

vroomvroom wrote:

I have been suffering from stabbing pains in my right leg/hip over the past 6 weeks (all the signs suggest sciatic nerve)
Re: sciatic nerve - ride or rest ??

Rest.
If your sciatic nerve is being irritated then it is bound to be inflamed. The inflamation is what is giving you most of your pain.
Have you asked your quack for some Volterol yet ? its a very effective anti-inflamatory to reduce the inflamation.

You should also try hot and cold compresses which should help.

Until the nerve's inflamation reduces any irritation from exercise is simply going to exacerbate the situation and prevent healing of the nerve.

You need to find out what is causing the irritation of the sciatic nerve if it is a reoccurring or chronic condition . You might have a lumbar disc problem and /or possibly weak core muscles . I would ask the quack for a referal for a crt scan of your lumber sacral vertebra in case you have a bigger problem in the making like crushed, disintegrating or displaced disks.
Don't ignore the warning signs like I did . It took me 4 years to learn to walk properly again!

+1

nerve or disc problem? you can't tell without tests/medical professionals advising.

you say "all the signs suggest sciatic nerve" - who told you this? you need to get a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. if it is a nerve problem and the nerve is trapped by muscles then sports massage or physio should help....but not with one session. soft tissue takes time to react, especially if you're not doing any stretching/exercises correctly. there are 168 hours in a week. physio/massage for 1 of those hours will be ineffective without you doing something else.
if the nerve is trapped by hard structures, i.e. bones (vertebrae) then no massage/physio alone will not work - you would need to see an osteo to get the bones manipulated (if that is what is needed). massage can then help to release tension in muscles that have been keeping the bones misaligned.

pollys_bott

My sciatica was caused by a lifetime of overpronating causing all my joints to be mis-aligned with the end result of the muscles in my right lower back pinching the nerve - massage, acupuncture, shoe inserts, stretching and exercises keep it in check now. The acupuncture was incredible, the single most effective part of the treatment - I never realised how stiff and inflexible my lower back had become until those needles went in and released the muscles.

sicknote

redvision wrote:

be careful with the sciatic nerve. if its causing pain then there is some inflamation somewhere and unless you rest it will gradually get worse and worse.

i suffer terribly from this problem and i am still waiting to see a specialist to get it sorted. some mornings its agony, others its not. admittedly cycling doesnt tend to cause too much pain, but running is a different matter.

anyway, this link might help:

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ents-27605

I had some problems myself earlier this year and did the the stretches in the article above and made sure I did a lot more stretches after every ride and now dont have any problem at all.
It took a while for anything to start feeling better but glad I did, plus it was giving me problems with my martial arts training too.

Hope it gets sorted as quick as mine did.

etapechamp

firstly see your doc, get xrays, scan etc, if all shows good and docs happy, ride with it, the most important thing to do is to keep the area warm, and regular light stretching if doc is happy, it happened to me once, going up a hill, sat down on saddle and seat post snapped. just be careful.