Can Myofascial Release Help Sciatica / Sciatic Nerve Pain ?
Sciatica Symptoms
Your sciatic nerves originate in your lower back and run down into your legs. Each leg has it's own sciatic nerve. When something presses on that nerve, like a tight piriformis muscle or a slipped disk, you've got yourself a case of sciatica. Symptoms can often present as:
- Burning sensation
- Weakness or Numbness
- Pins and Needles
- Electrical Nerve Pain
- Someone stabbing you with a knife in the back of the leg
- Lower Back Pain
- Hip Pain
- A Literal Pain in your butt
Needless to say, it's overall a very unpleasant experience, any way it happens to present itself. Typically, only one leg is affected at a time.
Causes & Treatment
There are many things that can cause sciatica. It can be any of, or a combination of such things as:
- Repetitive Sports / Activities (running, swimming, tennis, horse-back riding, etc)
- Sitting or Standing for long periods of time
- Poor Posture
- Pregnancy
- Injury or Accident
- Pelvic Imbalance
- and the list goes on...
Myofascial Treatment:
First the therapist will take a step back and assess the body as a whole, looking for any imbalances in the back, shoulders, legs, neck, etc. When the therapist has determined where the imbalances and the related restricted areas are, they will apply a gentle pressure into that restricted area- one area at a time- and hold it there, patiently, for at least seven minutes, sometimes longer. After about 7 minutes, the restricted fascia begins to slowly soften and let go. Fascial release takes patience and gentleness. When it finally lets go, the release is genuine and long lasting. This is because the body was never forced to let go before it was ready.
Think about other therapies you tried. How many of them "hurt so good"; were really deep, fast or aggressive? The immediate gratification feels wonderful, but as soon as you walk out of there, the pain and dysfunction comes back, doesn't it? That's because fascia will never let go when it is forced. It'll only hold on tighter. In fact, aggressive foam rolling or other hard "fascia tools" can create more damage and inflammation, and end up doing more harm than good.
When you're ready for a real change; ready to begin a real healing journey, give us a call. Let us show you what true myofascial release looks and feels like. Let us show you what a real healing experience is!