Exercise To Reduce Sciatica Back Pain

What I Thought Would Help But Did Not
At age 32 I was hit with very severe sciatica as a result of "overdoing" it in the weight room. I could not drive a car for more than 15 minutes without suffering pain. So, I thought "I better take it easy."  Friends and family urged me to give up on my regular exercise routine of jogging 3-4 miles every other day and let my back heal up. The back problem only became worse and worse however!

A Visit To The Chiropractor Sheds Some Light On My Problem
I finally visited a recommended chiropractor and he gave me a thorough checkup including an x-ray in addition to adjusting my back.  My chiropractor revealed that I had a common genetic condition where the clearance between my vertebrae and nerve was fairly low.  Thus, any inflammation would result in the nerve being pinched.  My spine, being out of alignment, placed pressure on this nerve when I was in the sitting position.  Here was the surprise however: My recent lack of exercise was making this problem worse!

How Did Jogging and Other Exercise Help My Back?
My chiropractor indicated that as we age, our back problems become worse.  This is because the muscles in our back lose their ability to hold our spine in place.  When our spine is not held in place, it can easily go out of alignment and put pressure on the sciatica nerve.  Also, as we age, we lose bone mass and also disk mass.  The disks play a critical role in keeping our back in alignment. The jogging requires one to continually flex back and stomach muscles in addition to the leg muscles. Also, jogging is a good way to prevent bone loss as stated at medicinenet.com .

The old saying "Use it or lose it" applies to your muscles.  And your muscles help keep your spine in alignment. My condition did improve greatly after I got back into my regular exercise routine.

For Severe Back Problems, See Your Physician or Chiropractor For Exercises To Do
Jogging and other exercise worked for me but jogging is generally not a recommended exercise for sufferers of sciatica pain. At SpineHealth.Com there are some recommended exercise for sufferers of sciatica.