You have been diagnosed by your doctor for your sciatica pain, he has prescribed a physical therapy program for you, you have attended a couple of the sessions, in most cases you will begin to feel some relief as the tightness and stiffness of the muscles is relaxed and the pressure that they brought to bear on the sciatic nerve is lessened. Now the physical therapy is over as far as your insurance coverage is concerned and if you want to continue with it you have to pay for it out of your own pocket. It is not cheap, so you opt to not continue with the program. Well, now is not the time to stop the sciatica exercises that have been helping you.You can still continue with them at home on your own. Who knows what could happen, the sciatica pain may even disappear completely if you pursue it on your own. If you can mimic the exercises the physical therapist was using, great, in additionhere are a few more that may be of use to help alleviate your condition.

You need to concentrate on three main groups of muscles, the stomach muscles, the lower back and piriformis muscles, and the hip flexor muscles. The stretching and strengthening of these muscles will not only continue to relieve the pain caused by the pressure on the sciatic nerve but they will help prevent any further injury to that area as well.

For the lower stomach muscles or abdominals, lie on your back on a mat or thick rug on the floor and bend one leg at the knee with foot flat on the floor and raise the other outstretched leg at least a foot off the floor or however high as you can, hold for a count of ten and lower to the floor. Do a set of ten repetitions and then repeat with the other leg. An advanced addition to this is to place your arms, with fingers interlocked, behind your head. Now as you raise your leg also raise your head a couple of inches off the ground. This places an additional stretch on the area.

To stretch and strengthen the hips, sit on the floor. You can use a wall in the beginning for added support, if necessary, but later on you shouldn\’t need it. Stretch your arms straight out in front of you parallel to the floor. Now try to touch your toes, do ten repetitions, rest, then do ten repetitions with each arm to the opposite foot. Left arm trying to touch right foot and right arm trying to touch left foot to fully stretch out those hip muscles. Reach only as far as is comfortable, don\’t strain.

The piriformis muscles as well as the hamstrings will benefit from this exercise. It is simply a touch your toes with your fingertips exercise. The main thing to remember though is to keep your legs straight and not to over stretch at the beginning. Overstretching would place too much stress on the knee joints. Go slow and easy, a little bit each day with all three exercises and you should hopefully feel some relief from the sciatica pain.

Alex Ralbeck is a sciatica relief expert. For great information on sciatica exercise, visit my website at http://www.stretchingforsciaticatips.com for helpful tips and information on relieving your back and leg pain.

Want to learn more about sciatica exercise? Visit my website at
http://www.stretchingforsciaticatips.com for helpful tips and information on relieving your back and leg pain.

Author Bio: Alex Ralbeck is a sciatica relief expert. For great information on sciatica exercise, visit my website at http://www.stretchingforsciaticatips.com for helpful tips and information on relieving your back and leg pain.

Category: Medicines and Remedies
Keywords: sciatica exercise,exercise for sciatica,exercises sciatica