I stopped lifting for 9 months due to sciatica,  just a little cardio.  I work 12 to 14 hours a day but I've always been super active even when i had an office job.

I started getting really strong about a year ago,  hit some good prs and my body fell apart. I can't shake this sciatica. I stretch constantly and it feels much better but i want it gone.  I don't wear my belt quite as tight either.

Im back to lifting but mainly upper body and cardio.

I did the hernia test where you raise that leg and it's tight but not painful at all.  Feels amazing bc of the stretch actually.

Im going to see a dr soon,  anything in particular i should ask or know before i go?

I went in March but i fainted during the appt from rabdo and we spent the last couple months fixing the hormone issue that caused that.  We never go back to sciatica.

Disclaimer. I hope this isn't it but my brother had a gentic hip defect that they said was sciatica from age 14 to 35. He got a full hip replacement at 37. The socket on one side wasn't fully formed.

This may be a day late and dollar short, but when I had sciatica over the winter it was from piriformis syndrome.  My pain started right at the hip joint and went all the way down to the back of my calf, absolutely brutal at first, i couldn't walk with out something to hold myself up.  No back pain so it was easy to diagnose that I had tweaked the muscle running, it put me out of commission for 3-4 months.  Ultimately it took rest and physical therapy but I've been good for about the last month or so getting back into light workouts and golf.

From my understanding sciatica is generally from either piriformis syndrome or a herniated/compressed disc in the back. There's a lot of good videos for stretching or yoga you can do at home to help with sciatica symptoms.


Any variation of this stretch is what gave me the most relief, and actually targeted the problem area..

Good luck!  I hope you find relief!

I had awful sciatica this winter.  Fixed it by getting rid of a gigantic bed pillow and switching to a minimalist pillow for sleeping.  Small pillow allowed my back to do its natural thing.

Strange, but true!

I do that stretch and the couple others related to it about 3 to 4 times a day and it's much better.  But i want it gone.

I think mine is piriformis related.  If the toilet seat hits the right spot on the piriformis my legs go numb and hurt to the point if tears when blood starts moving again.

Is it a specific range of motion issue? (like a certain depth in a squat sets it off, etc)

Is it a volume issue? (more reps sets it off)

Is it an intensity issue? (too much weight sets it off)

Try backing WAY off your weight and reps for exercises that you think are causing it, and see if there's a change.  If you find a range of motion issue, limit the range of motion (do rack pulls instead of dead lifts, pin squats, etc).  If it's a volume issue, reduce your volume and slowly work back up.  If it's a weight issue, reduce weight and work back up.

Get checked out, assuming it's not something like degenerative discs or something, the worst thing you can do is just completely stop working out because it hurt.

Work around the pain, and it should sort itself out over time.

The only thing that seems to aggravate it a little more than anything else is driving.  I maintain good posture though.

Unfortunately i had to stop completely for awhile.  I went off trt while we were doing ivf to have a baby and started another business at the same time.  I had legit hormonal issues before trt so i felt horrible while off.  My test levels are sub 250 naturally so after 13 and 14 hour work days,  there wasn't anything left in the tank. Even with low test im a super high energy guy.  I outwork everyone.  But the energy being left for the gym was not there.  Im a contractor now so im very physically active.

Im back to cardio a few times a week and mostly just upper body lifting.

I hate to say this bc i love lifting but for a few years until i reach a better spot in my career, im going to be a regular schlub who doesn't go consistently and his body looks like it.

I tried everything at the time,  squat volume, style,  deadlift volume, style , mobility work, weight. It was always there.

When i was faced with this new business,  constant elbow tendonitis, and this sciatica issue,  i decided i didn't want a nice physique that badly. Elbow issues went away after 6 months but sciatica remains.

Edit.

I have noticed one thing right before this started.  When i drive,  my foot wants to rotate from I to an / or closer to - position. I keep it straight on the gas pedal but it wants to be rotated sideways. Not sure what that means. Its like my hip is rotating some, or pelvis.

google McKenzie exercises.

Was crippled with sciatica 10 years ago.  They wanted to cut me.
48 yes old squatting and deadlifting 225 again 100% , pain free.

this stretch made mine worse. not sure what mine is

OP, you should see a Physical Therapist. My sciatica was so bad, if you could 100% guarantee that the pain would go away and I would never feel it again, I would have let you cut my leg off. It took 6 months of stretching, exercises, and acupuncture (friend recommended and it does work) to get my pain down to where I can live a normal life again.

I may go this direction but there are logistics involved.

I work long days 1 to 2 hours from home.  The pt is 60 miles so if i go at 9 and the company needs me 120 miles the other way, then I'll get the whole day off bc they will replace me that day.

Im a sub so im out 800 dollars just to go to a 1 hour appt. The downside of living rural.

We've got an acupuncturist here that works from home.  I may give that a try first.

I've had this issue (sometimes severely)  for the past 4 or 5 months.  At first I got some relief by not carrying my wallet in my back pocket. But that was only temporary.  I work in an office environment and and so am sitting most of the time.  I've had two surgeries this year which greatly limited my normal activity when not working and I attribute a lot of it to that. In my case, the pain has been near constant and often goes all the way down my leg making it difficult to even stand.  Oddly, walking doesn't hurt nearly as bad.

But once I was healed from the surgeries and able to resume normal activity, the sciatica has persisted.  Several people recommended seeing a chiropractor as a first attempt at fixing it and so I started seeing one a couple of weeks ago.  I've always been kind of skeptical about chiropractors and had never been to one before but the first visit he said he could give me some relief that day but that I'd need to see him several more times and multiple visits per week to really start fixing it.  That made me even more skeptical ($$$) but he was right about the first visit. It really helped and I have seen him 3 times since and have been amazed that the pain is nearly gone.  It still pops up a little bit occasionally but is so much better.  He's been doing hands on adjustments then TENS and a couple times traction.

He isn't that expensive and so I'm going to continue his protocol to completion since it seems to be working so well. It will be well worth it if I can avoid surgery and/or meds.

Ever get a sports massage and have them work on the area?

Not much. Its very difficult to schedule that stuff bc I'm so rural. They don't open until 9 and my work is usually 1 to 2 hours away so if i can't get to the jobsite until noon then i might not be able to work. They'll tell me to take the day off if there's no emergency so all of the sudden a massage costs 800 bucks in lost wages.

This worked wonders for me

L3 L4 L5 fractures / hours of sitting at a desk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpOokxxVloM