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?