Learn Why Poor Flexibility May Be Contributing To Your Sciatica and Back Pain

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Aside from sciatica and back pain symptoms, some of the complaints I hear from patients all the time include feelings of stiffness, joint pain during recreational or routine daily activities, feelings of fatigue, and achiness during resting activities?

What I invariably find in these folks is poor muscle flexibility. Muscle flexibility is the ability of our muscles to lengthen in response to the movement of a joint. For example, when you bend your elbow, the muscle on the backside of the upper arm (triceps muscle) lengthens while the muscle on the front side of the upper arm (biceps muscle) shortens. When you straighten your elbow the opposite occurs; the biceps lengthens and the triceps shortens.

In order to move, our bodies utilize the coordinated action of 430 muscles. Efficient use of these muscles requires the ability of the muscle to overcome resistance (strength), the ability of the muscle to sustain an activity (endurance), and the ability of the muscle to function across its normal length (flexibility).

When most people begin an exercise program, the emphasis is on strength and endurance training, while very little attention is paid to flexibility. However, studies have shown that exercise that addresses strength alone significantly reduces one’s mobility due to poor flexibility.

Here a few reasons why muscles get tight:

• Heavy work or hard physical exercise
• Poorly coordinated movement
• Poor posture
• Inactive lifestyle
• Repetitive, small range of motion movements
• Pain and injury
• Poor choice of parents

The body responds to poor flexibility by altered or limited mobility. This change in mobility results in unnecessary stress on the joints, poor circulation, and weakness in other muscle groups. Over time, these changes can lead to injury. And, sciatica and back pain can be the result of poor flexibility.

To effectively treat flexibility problems, I have my clients stretch. Seems obvious, right? It it’s tight, then stretch it. But what are the best methods to stretch tight muscles?

There are two basic types of muscle stretching:

• Ballistic stretching
• Slow, sustained stretching

Ballistic stretching involves rapid, active movement designed to increase mobility. For example, bending forward rapidly to touch your toes. The problem with this type of stretching is that it provokes a protective reflex in the muscle that causes the muscle to shorten rather than lengthen. Because of the uncontrolled and sometimes violent movement to overcome this reflex shortening, injury can result. For this reason, ballistic stretching is not recommended.

Slow, sustained stretching involves the low intensity, long duration lengthening of muscle. Low intensity implies lengthening to the point of tension, while long duration implies holding the stretch for 30 seconds to a minute or more. This type of stretching has been shown in repeated clinical studies to be superior to ballistic stretching in both effectiveness and safety. For this reason, our recommendation of the type of stretching to be used by our clients is slow, sustained stretching.

When and how often one stretches are two very important considerations in the overall effectiveness of any flexibility program. Although it is important to stretch prior to activity, it is even more important to stretch after activity. After activity, the muscles are warm and shortened and respond quite well to stretching exercises.

Because many of my clients have relatively inactive lifestyles, I recommend stretching every day during the first 3 months of the program. At the very least, you will be stretching before and after each of the cardiovascular exercise sessions.

In summary, the benefits of muscle stretching for sciatica and back pain include:

• Prevents and relieves soreness from exercise, muscle and tendon injury and cramps, painful menstrual cycles, sciatica pain, and stress.
• Lessens the risk, intensity, and duration of low back pain and injuries to muscles, tendons, and joints.
• Improves the strength of muscle and tendon.
• Improved range of motion of joints by allowing muscles to function across their normal length.

I welcome your comments and questions. Just fill out the form below and I’ll personally anser your questions.

Dedicated to Erasing Your Sciatica and Back Pain,

Malton A. Schexneider, PT, MMSc