Sciatica and the Alexander Technique: quick relief or lasting solution?
Sciatica is most often the result of a habit of bending badly and in the wrong places. Explore this spine-stressing habit and what you can do to heal your sciatica.
Bulging Discs and the Sciatic Nerve
Sciatic pain is the result of pressure on the sciatic nerve. This is usually caused by a disc prolapse (slipped disc). When a bulging intervertebral disc presses on the sciatic nerve as it leaves the spine, it causes pain (and often numbness) along the route of the nerve (in the buttock, down the thigh and sometimes down into the lower leg). This can result in a feeling of weakness as well.
Since, in most cases, sciatic pain is the result of a disc prolapse, you need to investigate the prolapse next.
A disc prolapse is most often the result of a habit of bending badly and in the wrong places. Explore this spine-stressing habit in my article on slipped discs. Find out why it causes discs to bulge and what you can do to heal your sciatica.
Read “Getting rid of lower back pain: How to loosen your back up” for practical ways to help yourself.
Piriformis Syndrome
That same harmful habit pattern of bending and stressing the spine that so easily causes disc prolapses also tightens the buttock muscles, including piriformis.
The sciatic nerve passes underneath the piriformis muscle on its way to your leg. If the piriformis muscle is very tight, it will, when your leg is in certain positions, press on the sciatic nerve. This is another common cause of sciatic pain.
Since the same harmful habit patterns are implicated in both disc prolapses and piriformis syndrome, both problems need dealing with in the same way. My slipped disc page describes the habit pattern and goes on to explain why it takes the Alexander Technique to unlearn the pattern and acquire a healthier way of moving.
Read “Getting rid of lower back pain: How to loosen your back up” for practical ways to help yourself.
Other Causes of Sciatica
Occasionally the pressure on the sciatic nerve may have other causes such as an abscess, blood clot or tumour. These have nothing to do with your habits of movement and you would be wasting your time consulting an Alexander teacher in such cases!
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