Sciatic Nerve Is Killing Me!

[BsC]

i have recently gotten back into lifting again (my wife passed away in january, thats the reason for the lay-off), and the first week went really good, other than the expected soreness of course. i am running 3 days/week. right now, for my leg routine, im just doing a basic 1 day/week routine consisting of squats, calf raises, leg ext., and leg curls. 2 days ago my damn sciatic nerve started hurting. the pain isnt to intense, but it does affect my workouts; especially when i run. i just wanted to see if any of you guys/girls know of anything that i could do to relieve the pain a little bit. i hardly ever post questions, and i used the search function, but i really didnt find anything that was helpful. i would appreciate anykind of help that i could get. i really do hope that its not the running that is causing it to hurt, because i definately need to drop some bodyfat! 5'7" 260lbs 16%bodyfat

 

[gymtime]

Where exactly is the pain hitting you?

 

[ZenMachine]

I had problems with mine a few months back. It could be disk problems in which case I am no help.

Mine was caused by a muscle that is located under the glute. (can't remember the name). I found that a slight warm up and some stretching helped considerably.

The best stretch I found was to pull you knee to your chest, Turn the bottom of you leg in and pull both the ankle and knee at an angle across your chest.

Worked for me. Hope you find something to help.

Zen

 

[BsC]

the pain is basically from my right buttock down to the back of my thigh. it doesnt hurt constantly, but mainly when i make movements; it hurts worse when i lay down.
ZenMachine: i believe that muscle that your referring to is the pirifimoris muscle, but im not sure. i do notice that stretching does help it, but only temporarily. you think i should try going to a chiopractor?

 

[gymtime]

I had problems with mine a few months back. It could be disk problems in which case I am no help.

Mine was caused by a muscle that is located under the glute. (can't remember the name). I found that a slight warm up and some stretching helped considerably.

The best stretch I found was to pull you knee to your chest, Turn the bottom of you leg in and pull both the ankle and knee at an angle across your chest.

Worked for me. Hope you find something to help.

Zen

Zen - For the past three weeks or so, I've had a pain that runs from my left glute down to about mid-ham. It doesn't really hurt so much when I do typical leg stuff; deads, squats, presses, etc. It hurts more when I'm just walking. More specifically, when my leg is straight, it's hard to move it forward. When it's bent, there's very little pain if any.

Does this sound like a sciatic problem? If so, what can be done about it other than those stretches?

 

[ZenMachine]

First a warning. I have no medical skills what so ever. That being said. I will tell you what mine was like. You can draw your own conclusions.

Mine was a pain in the left glute almost where it inserted into the hamstring. It also would shoot down the leg. The injury happened during softball last year and I strained the pirifimoris (That sounds right) muscle. Apparently some people have a sciatic nerve that runs right through this muscle. When the muscle got inflamed. It pinched off. Anyway. I could still run and stuff, but it was almost impossible to start and stop. Once I was going I was fine. When I was at work I could sit with a little pain, but getting up was also really difficult.

Went to the doc, they originally thought it was a bulging disk, they changed opinion to a muscular problem. Ice, Asprin and stretching and a couple of weeks I was seemly back to normal.

I wouldn't rule out a bulging disk problem though.

Hope this helps

Zen

 

[BsC]

hey zen, thanks for the help. everything you said describes exactly how mine feels. i will try the asprin/ice/stretching routine for a week or 2 and see what happens. like i said the pain IS bearable right now. if it is still hurting tomorrow morning, should i still run? and if it is STILL hurting on friday (leg day), do you suggest i workout anyways and if so should i lighten the load and/or volume? thank again for your advice.

 

[ZenMachine]

hey zen, thanks for the help. everything you said describes exactly how mine feels. i will try the asprin/ice/stretching routine for a week or 2 and see what happens. like i said the pain IS bearable right now. if it is still hurting tomorrow morning, should i still run? and if it is STILL hurting on friday (leg day), do you suggest i workout anyways and if so should i lighten the load and/or volume? thank again for your advice.

Personally, I took the time off all together. The way I figure it, you are injured and that muscle needs time to heal (or at least the inflammation needs to go down).

Take a week, and see what happens, then make sure you warm it up and then stretch it before you do any exercise (lifting or running heavily).

Let me know how things turn out.

 

[gymtime]

Thanks Zen. I'm going to the doc next week about this. Hopefully, it's not a sciatic thing. Maybe a tendon and/or muscle problem. We shall see.

 

[bignate73]

when you run, do your toes point out (also walk)?

do you squat with your toes pointed out?

 

[NateDogg]

The best stretch I found was to pull you knee to your chest, Turn the bottom of you leg in and pull both the ankle and knee at an angle across your chest.
Zen

This stretch has worked for me as well. I have the same problems. Another one, quite similar, is putting my left foot up on something that is about hip height or so, with my knee pointed out to the left, kind of inching myself into the stretch.

ND

 

[BsC]

bignate: my toes do not point out when running or doing squats......at least i think, i will pay more attention.

stretching does help quit a bit, but only temporarily. but it is better than nothing. i guess i will take it easy on my legs for a little while. it figures once i get back into it all, this crap happens i guess i will focus even harder on my diet now since i wont be running for a while. still 16% bodyfat isnt that bad for my height/weight ratio concidering i havent really done anything since january. well, thank for the help.

 

[BsC]

update on my nerve problem:

i went ahead and skipped my morning cardio on thursday, and stretched my leg ALOT all day yesterday and today. and today it felt great; no pain at all so i went ahead and did my leg routine today as scheduled, with no problems at all.......except of course the usual sick feeling like i am about to puke all the chicken breasts and triple threat that i consumed today, which is customary on leg day......for me anyway well, once again, thanks for all the help.

 

[FitnessFrk]

sciatica is caused by some type of structural irration to the spine.

do yourself and favor and go see a orthopedic surgeon and get a MRI. the low back is not a place to blow off injury's and/or pain.

 

[bignate73]

sciatica is caused by some type of structural irration to the spine.

do yourself and favor and go see a orthopedic surgeon and get a MRI. the low back is not a place to blow off injury's and/or pain.

thats provided its actually sciatica. chances are the way the stretching has helped, it could be overworked/tight muscles in the hip glute region. tight piriformis, glamella and glute medius. all the stretches described (that helped) hit those areas significantly. thats why i asked if his feet drifted out. overworked piriformis or glute medius will cramp up easily due to the size of the muscles and the inability to maintain hip stability through an afternoon run, whereas if he ran correctly (feet straight ahead) glute maximus can definitely handle that motor pattern and is designed for that. postural deviations and muscle imbalances account for many tight synergist muscles. synergists usually being less suited for the job and fatigue/get sore more readily when relied upon to be the main movers.

hope that helped at what i was getting at. if you find that the condition persists after the stretching, it may be a good idea to go see a sports medicine specialist for a realistic answer.

 

[brooklynboy]

Try this

Take your leg you are haveing pain in and cross it over your other leg. Put your foot about where your knee is and pull your leg toward the oppsite side of your body. I had the same problem two years ago. Three doctors later I solved it my self. I had a knot in my hip flexor putting pressure on my sicatic (spl?) nerve. i tonly hurt when I did certain leg movements (getting up form a chiar running.) After a week of streching the pain went away, and now I do it once a week after a leg day. NO MORE PAIN. Hope this helps

PEACE

Brooklynboy
[email protected]

 

[bignate73]

good theory but it wasnt your hip flexor. and the stretch you described is a glute stretch, thats where you had tension.

 

[FitnessFrk]

bignate...you are correct also. Being that I have 2 completely herniated discs at S1-S2 and L4-L5 I know first hand about this. I also could tell the difference when the discs where bulged to when they completey herniated. For me the pain/symptoms started out just Bsc mentioned.

 

[BsC]

well, as of lately, i have not had anymore problems with my nerve. however i do have an appointment to get to a chirpractor (spl?) next week just in case. i have never been to a chiropractor, so i figured, what the hell? i will pass along any info via this post when the doc gives me some info/treatment.

the stetching does help quit a bit if i do it alot, especially before running wind-sprints and leg curls.