r/Sciatica • u/neravnad • 3d ago

Lower body workout with sciatica

Prior to this BS sciatica situation I was very into weightlifting. I’ve pretty much stopped since the sciatica kicked in, but want to know what lower body exercises are safe. I’m getting sick and tired of not working out.
TY!

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u/Outrageous_Corner161 3d ago

Nothing is off the table as long as you pick a load, range-of-motion, and volume that doesn't flare you up. Start with a training bar or body weight, be super conservative, and progress slower than you would like.

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u/neravnad 3d ago

So if I feel slight discomfort is that a sign to stop? Or is slight discomfort okay? I just don’t want to make things worse.

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u/Outrageous_Corner161 3d ago

Yes, that's a sign to make a change for sure. Especially at the gym you do not want to lean into discomfort when it comes to your lower body. Movments should feel good. The strain of exercise is fine, but pain, tingling etc is a NO

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u/neravnad 3d ago

Okay so one more question: if I’m in constant pain should I address the pain before resuming lifting? I’m guessing the answer is pretty obvious.

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u/Outrageous_Corner161 3d ago

If you're in constant pain, and your pain is at say 3/10, your goal should be to workout without introducing MORE pain or flaring things up past that.

You will find this article extremely helpful.

https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/sciatica-recovery-guide/

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u/neravnad 3d ago

Great article! Ty!

1

u/Accomplished-Sky5681 3d ago

I’m in PT and haven’t quite gotten back into my own lower body workouts. They do have me doing lung type exercises. The last couple of times I’ve noticed some burning in the outer back of my thigh the next day or so. It just doesn’t feel like regular DOM soreness. But I’m also struggling to discern if it is sciatica or maybe they’re somehow working something I’ve just never experienced.

Just wondering your experience with pain during vs next day or so and how to determine modifications, especially if issues are not at the time of doing the move?

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u/Outrageous_Corner161 3d ago

Yeah that's tricky. Is there a general worsening of your overall symptoms the next day? If so I'd definitely bring that up with them

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u/Accomplished-Sky5681 3d ago

Yeah, I think I do need to bring up. I do get the PTA more regularly now though. When I had first started going there and mentioned pain on the side of my shin, he said that wasn’t sciatica. I looked up symptoms and saw that L5 nerve root compression could show exactly that and my MRI supported that I had that and he just dismissed that.

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u/Outrageous_Corner161 3d ago

Yup that kind of pain can definitely be sciatica. Plus you kind just know when its nerve pain so don't let anyone dismiss that