Why Stretching Doesn’t Fix Sciatica (& What Does)

And no, for once it’s not “strengthen this oft-forgotten muscle”:

Do you floss?

Not like that. Well, also like that is great, but it probably won’t help with sciatica. But nerve flossing? Yes, that can help.

The thing is, stretching can put an irritated sciatic nerve under tension and potentially keep symptoms aggravated, so repeatedly stretching will usually not resolve recurring pain.

Instead:

• Move the leg from all fours: extend one leg out to the side with your foot on the floor, then round your lower back while lifting your foot toward the ceiling, shifting slowly between the positions.
• Change your foot and neck position: with your lower back rounded and your posture slumped, move your foot toward the ceiling while changing the position of your foot and neck without extending your spine.
• Perform an active figure-four movement: place one leg over the other as if preparing for a figure-four position, then sit back for a couple of seconds and return, working both sides rather than only the side affected by sciatica.

Now, we said that for once it’s not “strengthen this oft-forgotten muscle”, and that’s true, but if you do feel inclined to some muscle-strengthening, then your glutes are where it’s at, since if they’re strong, then the piriformis doesn’t have to compensate by gripping around the sciatic nerve.

That said, if you have hypermobility, you may still have sciatica issues even with strong glutes, so the flossing exercise remains very relevant.

For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like:

What Does Hypermobile Posture Look Like? ← for why this becomes relevant

Take care!