YOGA FOR sciatica
About YOGA FOR SCIATICA
While it is sometimes possible to reduce your risk of sciatica by improving your posture and building muscle strength – which yoga can help with, once you have sciatica it can be a stressful condition to live with.
It’s usually recommended that sufferers remain active, but with any activity there is always the risk of doing more damage. Yoga can work well as a sciatica treatment because it’s a gentle way to build all-round fitness and calm the mind. The asana (physical postures) can help us work on muscle strength and alignment, while pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditation can help dissolve stress.
Finding the right teacher to help you go at your pace is essential. In more severe cases a personal yoga therapist will help you build a tailored regime that is safe for your condition. Always consult your doctor if you are unsure of how much physical exercise you should be doing.
There’s limited research in this area but clinical studies suggest yoga can bring significant improvements in pain, tenderness, rigidity, and walking ability to sciatica patients.
Also see Back pain
What the clinical studies say
Yoga
- Significant improvements in pain
- Significant improvements in rigidity
- Significant improvements in tenderness
- Significant improvements in walking
