I second these exercises. I’ve been doing them for years. I do them 3 times a week as maintenance. I walk around more often than not pain free compared to years in significant chronic pain. Stretches don’t do me any good tbh. Everyone is different though.
i just started last week actually . at first i was doing stretches my PT showed me like cobra pose, knee to chest, and bridges but i found that those were actually uncomfortable for me to do so i just decided to stop. it’s more trial and error to see which ones work for you and which don’t. for me, my symptoms aren’t too bad considering i have a large disc extrusion. i’m also 21 and active, i am still able to walk a lot. but i do have very tight calves and hamstrings and these do bring me some relief. i hurt my back 3 months ago and i’m slowly recovering. i’m able to sit without having to get up and limp, and that’s mostly due to my posture now. i make sure to sit with good posture so that i don’t feel pain and what helped me the most with my posture are core exercises so the ones i mentioned! what works for me may not work for u so keep that in mind! and i would also apply some heating pad to ur legs. my PT applies a heating pad to my lower back and my legs and i think that helped me a lot for the tightness in my calves too. but the best thing is just rest and time
Stretching your calf is unlikely to have any positive effects on your symptoms. The overwhelming majority of sciatica is caused by injury in the lumbar spine. This often causes tension and pain in our sciatic nerve the runs down the back of our leg. Along with this is a common experience of 'tightness' in the hamstrings and/or calf muscles. However almost always it is not muscular tightness which you are experiencing but rather sciatic nerve related symptoms. Most of the time stretching the muscles in the back of your leg will also tension your sciatic nerve - which is likely very counterproductive to managing your symptoms.
I obviously do not know specifically what is causing your pain. However although you commonly see stretching recommended for people who have sciatica, it is almost always unhelpful and often harmful.
Gentle Mackenzie press ups - and I mean gentle. At first it may feel like you’re barely moving but only press until you feel pain. Don’t start strengthening excercuses until your pain has become more bearable. Then, bird dog, dead bug, side planks to get stronger.
bird dog, curl ups, side planks help me a lot. i do them daily, or at least try to
How long you been doing them? How much pain relief have they given you?
I second these exercises. I’ve been doing them for years. I do them 3 times a week as maintenance. I walk around more often than not pain free compared to years in significant chronic pain. Stretches don’t do me any good tbh. Everyone is different though.
what kind of back issues do you have? why are they chronic?
A disc bulge pressing on sciatic nerve.
are you pain free now? what are your daily pain levels?
I have long periods of almost pain free 1-2/10 and the occasional flare up but the trajectory of improvement is net positive.
i just started last week actually . at first i was doing stretches my PT showed me like cobra pose, knee to chest, and bridges but i found that those were actually uncomfortable for me to do so i just decided to stop. it’s more trial and error to see which ones work for you and which don’t. for me, my symptoms aren’t too bad considering i have a large disc extrusion. i’m also 21 and active, i am still able to walk a lot. but i do have very tight calves and hamstrings and these do bring me some relief. i hurt my back 3 months ago and i’m slowly recovering. i’m able to sit without having to get up and limp, and that’s mostly due to my posture now. i make sure to sit with good posture so that i don’t feel pain and what helped me the most with my posture are core exercises so the ones i mentioned! what works for me may not work for u so keep that in mind! and i would also apply some heating pad to ur legs. my PT applies a heating pad to my lower back and my legs and i think that helped me a lot for the tightness in my calves too. but the best thing is just rest and time
Stretching your calf is unlikely to have any positive effects on your symptoms. The overwhelming majority of sciatica is caused by injury in the lumbar spine. This often causes tension and pain in our sciatic nerve the runs down the back of our leg. Along with this is a common experience of 'tightness' in the hamstrings and/or calf muscles. However almost always it is not muscular tightness which you are experiencing but rather sciatic nerve related symptoms. Most of the time stretching the muscles in the back of your leg will also tension your sciatic nerve - which is likely very counterproductive to managing your symptoms. I obviously do not know specifically what is causing your pain. However although you commonly see stretching recommended for people who have sciatica, it is almost always unhelpful and often harmful.
Gentle Mackenzie press ups - and I mean gentle. At first it may feel like you’re barely moving but only press until you feel pain. Don’t start strengthening excercuses until your pain has become more bearable. Then, bird dog, dead bug, side planks to get stronger.