By Leading Sciatica Expert Dr. Justin Rabinowitz
Sciatica is the most common injury we see at Strive2Move. And it’s not that people in Martinsville, New Jersey suffer at a much higher rate. It’s like that all over the country and the world.
Each and every day we field question about sciatica but here are the most common ones:
- If my leg feels tight from sciatica, should I stretch it?
- My back doesn’t hurt, so how can I have sciatica?
- Should I be worried about long term damage from my sciatica pain?
Let’s tackle each one individually…
Question #1: If my leg feels tight from sciatica, should I stretch it?
NO! This is actually the worst advice you could receive. We see people in our Martinsville, New Jersey offices that come in with sciatica pain who have been stretching for months with no relief.
The underlying issue is simple. Sciatica is irritating your leg and hamstring and it ‘feels’ tight so it makes sense to stretch it. More, you probably ‘Googled’ what to do about sciatica and saw a hamstring stretch.
And immediately it provides relief. But it’s temporary.
Most likely, you are making the pain worse and actually prolonging the injury.
Question #2: My back doesn’t hurt, so how can I have sciatica?
Many people think of sciatica as a lower back injury that shoots pain down the leg. So you have pain in both your back AND your leg.
This isn’t always the case. In fact, many people are surprised to learn that sciatica pain in your leg can occur without any back pain at all.
Don’t think that just because your back doesn’t hurt you aren’t suffering from sciatica.
Question #3: Should I be worried about long term damage from my sciatica pain?
Most likely if you have suffered from sciatica pain for more than 5 days, there is a chance of it lasting a very long time if you do nothing about it. We have a saying in the office, “The longer something has been around, the longer it usually stays around.” If you have been suffering for more than 5 days, It’s time to consider having a specialist evaluate and treat the injury.
In summary, if you are currently suffering from sciatica I implore you to do something about it. You don’t have to deal with that nagging, aching, tooth-like pain forever. Life is too short to live in pain. Don’t suffer any longer.
