sciatica and biking

"Donald Specker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| I've come to the conclusion that the pain that's been affecting my left
leg,
| from the butt to the bottom of the foot, may be sciatica. As a result, I haven't ridden in 5 long
| weeks. Any recommendations on getting over this and resuming riding? Should I stay off the bike
| until this completely resolves itself?
|
| Thanks.
|
|

If it truly is sciatica, it would be best to stay off the bike and instead maybe spend the time
seeing an orthopedic doctor ...sciatica is indicative of a possible disk problem. From the Encarta
encyclopedia:

"Sciatica, common form of neuralgia or neuritis, characterized by pain traveling the length of the
sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve, the longest in the human body, runs from the lower back through
the pelvic region and down the back of the leg. Acute sciatica is often caused by a displaced
intervertebral disk that presses against the nerve root, in which case it develops immediately after
(or a few days following) a sudden strain put on the lumbar portion of the Spinal Column. Easily
confused with rheumatism, milder forms of sciatica at first cause stiffness and swelling of the leg.
To relieve the pain, sufferers often walk by bending the affected leg at the knee and rotating it
outward. Most cases, including those caused by a displaced disk, can be treated by a few days to a
few weeks of complete bed rest. In very severe cases, which involve sensory loss and muscle wasting
in the leg, surgical decompression of the disk is required."

Jean (who used to have sciatica, then had spinal surgery, and now doesn't have sciatica)

Donald Specker said:

I've come to the conclusion that the pain that's been affecting my left leg, from the butt to the
bottom of the foot, may be sciatica. As a result, I haven't ridden in 5 long weeks. Any
recommendations on getting over this and resuming riding? Should I stay off the bike until this
completely resolves itself?

Thanks.

Supposedly most Americans will eventually have this problem. I went to see an orthpedist and after
about six months off the bike and some physical therapy and I was back to where I was. There were a
couple of times over the years where it hurt a bit but never as bad as it did initially.

Donald Specker said:

I've come to the conclusion that the pain that's been affecting my left leg, from the butt to the
bottom of the foot, may be sciatica. As a result, I haven't ridden in 5 long weeks. Any
recommendations on getting over this and resuming riding? Should I stay off the bike until this
completely resolves itself?

I suggest that you see a neruologist, who will likely want an MRI. Should you have degenerative disk
disease, it will depend on how the nerve is being impinged on. For some, cycling and strengthening
the abdominal muscles is the best thing to keep the sciatica away. For others, their cycling days
are numbered lest they get a neurosurgeon.

"Jean" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Donald Specker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| I've come to the conclusion that the pain that's been affecting my left
leg,
| from the butt to the bottom of the foot, may be sciatica. As a result,

I

Quoted message said:

| haven't ridden in 5 long weeks. Any recommendations on getting over

this

Quoted message said:

| and resuming riding? Should I stay off the bike until this completely resolves itself?
|
| Thanks.
|
|

If it truly is sciatica, it would be best to stay off the bike and instead maybe spend the time
seeing an orthopedic doctor ...sciatica is indicative of a possible disk problem. From the Encarta
encyclopedia:

"Sciatica, common form of neuralgia or neuritis, characterized by pain traveling the length of the
sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve, the longest

in

Quoted message said:

the human body, runs from the lower back through the pelvic region and

down

Quoted message said:

the back of the leg. Acute sciatica is often caused by a displaced intervertebral disk that
presses against the nerve root, in which case it develops immediately after (or a few days
following) a sudden strain put

on

Quoted message said:

the lumbar portion of the Spinal Column. Easily confused with rheumatism, milder forms of sciatica
at first cause stiffness and swelling of the leg. To relieve the pain, sufferers often walk by
bending the affected leg at

the

Quoted message said:

knee and rotating it outward. Most cases, including those caused by a displaced disk, can be
treated by a few days to a few weeks of complete

bed

Quoted message said:

rest. In very severe cases, which involve sensory loss and muscle wasting

in

Quoted message said:

the leg, surgical decompression of the disk is required."

There are stretches that can be performed to alleviate the discomfort. Hyperextensions on a Roman
Chair may also help.

Surgery should be the extreme last resort due to the potential for failure and ending up in a
wheelchair instead of on a bike.

"Donald Specker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I've come to the conclusion that the pain that's been affecting my left leg, from the butt to the
bottom of the foot, may be sciatica. As a result, I haven't ridden in 5 long weeks. Any
recommendations on getting over this and resuming riding? Should I stay off the bike until this
completely resolves itself?

In my case, I have concluded that sciatica comes from overdeveloped biking muscles and tight,
underdeveloped hamstrings and abdominals. Lots of sit-ups and hamstring stretching, as in a Pilates
routine, helps keep sciatica at bay. I'm looking into kayaking as a less heinous remedy than
stationary repetitive exertion.

Also, while I like lots of setback/shallow seat tube angle generally, I find that scooching the
saddle forward a bit helps me through the acute sciatica episodes. Staying off the bike entirely
would mean never venturing farther or faster than i could walk... no way!

In article <[email hidden]>, Paul Kopit

Quoted message said:

Donald Specker said:

I've come to the conclusion that the pain that's been affecting my left leg, from the butt to the
bottom of the foot, may be sciatica. As a result, I haven't ridden in 5 long weeks. Any
recommendations on getting over this and resuming riding? Should I stay off the bike until this
completely resolves itself?

I saw this one a little late. I had the same thing and yes it was sciatica caused by a problem
(probably a bulge) at L5.

The cure for me was 2 weeks in bed, 4 weeks off work, about 8 weeks off the bike, physical therapy
with traction, and a re-evaluation of my riding postion. I had the saddle too high. I wasn't
completely over it when I started riding again, but I had to stick with easy spins for a while. It
took about 2 years to feel fully normal. I didn't have an MRI, my doctor told me that treatment was
based on symptoms regardless of what the MRI showed.

Tom Gibb <[email hidden]

Jean said:

Most cases, including those caused by a displaced disk, can be treated by a few days to a few
weeks of complete bed rest.

I don't think that anyone recommends bed rest these days.

James (recent slipped disk recoveree)

"Donald Specker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I've come to the conclusion that the pain that's been affecting my left leg, from the butt to the
bottom of the foot, may be sciatica. As a result, I haven't ridden in 5 long weeks. Any
recommendations on getting over this and resuming riding? Should I stay off the bike until this
completely resolves itself?

Thanks.

The guy that helped me out was a chiropractor. After a couple of sessions I was good as new.

Art

Don't sell your bike quit yet. Sciatica can also be caused by the pelvis pressing on the sciatic
nerve--nowhere near your vertibral 'stack.'

For me, all I had to do was change the position and angle of my saddle. The idea is to change your
'contact patch,' which is actually a fairly complex manifold. Though I didn't need to swap saddles
(but gladly would have), this also might be the ticket.

BTW, when I was originally researching this, I discovered that the sciatic 'cable routing' through
and around the pelvis can vary from person to person--no kidding.

Maybe I was just lucky--for me, only one particular saddle setup on one partuclular bike has ever
triggered those scary, shooting pains. Obviously if your problem is coming from something in your
lower back, then you might have to stay off the bike. But given that we road cyclists spend long
hours with most of our weight bearing on a relatively small area, it's surprising that we don't have
more weird problems.

- Pete

Sciatica-free for 14 months.

[email hidden] (Art) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Donald Specker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I've come to the conclusion that the pain that's been affecting my left leg, from the butt to
the bottom of the foot, may be sciatica. As a result, I haven't ridden in 5 long weeks. Any
recommendations on getting over this and resuming riding? Should I stay off the bike until this
completely resolves itself?

Thanks.

The guy that helped me out was a chiropractor. After a couple of sessions I was good as new.

Art

In article <[email hidden]>, "Donald Specker"

Quoted message said:

I've come to the conclusion that the pain that's been affecting my left leg, from the butt to the
bottom of the foot, may be sciatica. As a result, I haven't ridden in 5 long weeks. Any
recommendations on getting over this and resuming riding? Should I stay off the bike until this
completely resolves itself?

Thanks.

I had a shooting pain down my leg after a long ride one day. Starting at the back of the pelvic bone
and going down to my foot. The shooting pain went away, but my whole hip joint is still in pain.
Even my butt. I found out last week that it's Piriformis Syndrome. The piriformus muscle crosses
over the sciatic nerve, so when it get's inflamed, it pinches the sciatic, causing the shooting
pain. Half the battle is finding out what the problem is, so you can treat it.

Suggestions: Ice, massage and stretching.

I've been off the bike for 8 weeks and stopped swimming last week. When the pain goes away
completely, I'll probably start swimming again and if it stays away after that, then I'll get back
on the bike. This season is gone, can't wait till the next.

John K.

John,

Hope you make a full recovery. I wasn't so lucky. To continue to keep riding I had to get 'bent.