Nerve Flossing and Sciatica
Frequently Asked Questions
How often would you recommend doing these exercises for someone with chronic sciatica versus occasional flare-ups?
Nerve flossing can be done twice a day whether you have chronic sciatica or occasional flare ups. It is best to commit to doing it for 30 days.
Are there any situations where nerve flossing might not be recommended or could actually worsen symptoms?
Like anything, nerve flossing doesn’t work 100% of the time. If nerve flossing causes an increase in sciatica after continuing to do it for a couple of weeks, it is best to stop.
Can these techniques help if the sciatica is caused by a herniated disc, or are they more effective for other underlying issues?
Nerve flossing can be less effective if the patient has a herniated disc. Combining nerve flossing with chiropractic care and physical therapy can yield a better outcome.
Nerve Flossing and Sciatica
Hi everybody, this is Dr. Aaron Seaton. Today's video is going to be a little trick to help you with sciatica. Some people get sciatica shooting down either left or right leg and there's a little thing that you can do at home called nerve flossing.
I've been recommending this to my patients for a long time and it can really help alleviate some of that sciatic pain. So I'm going to give you two different variations that you can try at home. A couple times a day is usually enough.
It doesn't take a whole lot of time, but it can be very helpful if you've been suffering with sciatica. So this first way is just sitting down where you're down on a bench or a chair or something like this and you're going to say, this is the side that I'm having sciatica on this, this right side. I'm going to extend with my toe pointed up, extend while I look up and then I'm going to slowly come back down just like this.
I'll show that again. We're extending at the knee and looking up just like that. And what we're doing with that is kind of moving the nerve through its natural area, trying to break it free from any adhesions that could be pinching on that nerve causing it to shoot.
So doing anywhere from five to 15 of these reps, I like doing it both sides. Even though you're say you're having sciatica on the right side, I would still do it on the left side just to get both nerves freed up and kind of even and balanced. The other version is a lying down version that you can do where you're lying down and then you come up, you're going to lift the leg here and then lift to where you feel like, okay, I'm feeling tension.
I'm feeling some tingling back off a little bit and just start pointing the toes like five to 10 times here. Just like again, I like doing both sides even if you're not symptomatic, just to kind of keep a balance in the body. So if you've had sciatica for a long time and you haven't tried some nerve flossing, by all means, try doing this at home.
It can be very helpful. I'm Dr. Aaron Seaton with The Chiropractic Place.
Thank you.
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