This past week I successfully helped a client who was suffering from “sciatica pain.”
I assessed and worked on his muscles last Monday, and today, a little less than a week after treatment, no more pain. Sciatica pain is usually caused by nerves being compressed in the lumbar area. I found a very nice video that illustrates sciatica pain and if you are interested you can check: https://www.spine-health.com/video/sciatica-interactive-video?jwsource=em
However, there are other conditions that have similar pain patterns, for example, pseudo-sciatica pain or Piriformis Syndrome (PS). In PS, instead of the sciatica nerve being compressed at the lumbar area, it is actually compressed by the piriformis muscle which is located in the middle of glutes (gluteus maximus). When you sit for too long or if you are sitting with a wallet inside your back pocket, that pressure on the sciatica nerve could be a trigger. Thankfully for my client, after assessment, we realized the long hours of driving and long hours of flight were the culprit. A combination of specific stretches along with mayofascial release and multi-directional cross-fiber friction on piriformis muscle helped to resolve his problem. There are good techniques in massage therapy that can reduce or even eliminate this kind of pain and condition.
Please be mindful that if you have a serious or chronic illness, you should check with your doctor before getting a massage and inform the massage therapist. If you are considering massage, please talk with your health care provider if you are not sure whether massage therapy might carry risks for you. Also, please inform the massage therapist about any existent physical conditions you might have and/or recent surgery.
