Sciatica and exercises – Exercises with warm water

Sciatica and exercises sound counterproductive at first. But the truth is, while bed rest is beneficial at the start of a sciatica flare-up, it will likely worsen your condition if you overdo it (more than a couple of days). He wants to get back to his normal routines as soon as he can (of course, avoiding the parts that led to this condition). Once the most severe pain has subsided, you should seriously consider different types of exercises, depending on the cause of your sciatica pain. What helps in one case may harm another. For that reason, always consult a doctor before starting exercises to make sure you can start exercising and what exercises to perform and how often.

Having said all that, I would like to focus on one type of exercise that is probably one of the most beneficial for sciatica pain. Hot water exercises. While heat should be avoided from an acute injury and cold should be applied, once the healing process has begun, warm water is very beneficial in a number of ways.

Soaking in warm water helps you relax, increases circulation, and helps relax tense muscles; It also helps speed up the healing process. It gives you some mobility back, as the heat makes the muscles more flexible. It’s a good idea to soak in warm water for a while before you start exercising (not too long, so your body doesn’t overheat).

Now that you are well relaxed, you can do some water exercises, which will be much easier to do than regular exercises, since being suspended in water requires most of the pressure from the spine, discs, joints, ligaments and the muscles; it also decreases the pain of some of the exercises and the fear of pain, which itself can make you tense.

The resistance of the water will make your muscles work harder while reducing the impact and stress on the rest of your body. Even walking or wading in water can help reduce muscle spasms and pain.

Warm water exercises and water exercises in general are a good starting point for exercise after an acute flare-up of sciatica and many other causes of back pain. Warm water exercises are some of the most beneficial exercises, as they combine reducing inflammation due to increased circulation and strengthening the muscles you’ll need to keep your back and sciatic nerve healthy.

In addition to water exercises, there are all kinds of exercises that you can gradually “grow up” into, but before doing any type of exercise (now that you’ve consulted your doctor and know which exercises to perform), always start with a warm-up routine for at least 5 minutes. That could be a short walk, even walking in place, or using a stationary bike.

At first, you’ll probably only do gentle back-stretching exercises, and then gradually expand to strengthening and balancing exercises for your back and core. You should also add some low-impact aerobics to your routine at some point. If you find a good balance of all these exercises, you will use a wide variety of muscle groups, which in turn will ensure that future breakouts are prevented.

Bottom line: Sciatica and exercises go hand in hand, if you want to see long-term relief from painful sciatica symptoms. Always consult your back specialist before starting to exercise or self-treat your symptoms and causes, so that you know for sure what you can, should and should not do.