Will Harlow

If you move your spine in a certain direction, it's either going to make it better or it's going to make it worse or it's going to do nothing.

So the first thing I would recommend people do is find out what those movements are for them.

So it might be that if you bend forwards, that sciatica gets worse.

So now you know, okay, so when I flex, that aggravates it.

So what you need to do then is for a moment, until it starts to improve, try and avoid doing lots of those flexed positions.

Because with any nerve pain, this is not a no pain, no gain thing.

It's the total opposite.

You have to avoid the thing that's causing the pain, otherwise it increases the inflammation and the problem goes on for longer.

So once you've found the thing to avoid, you make sure you take note of that.

Now you're gonna test the other movements.

And chances are you'll find one

that makes it feel maybe slightly better.

And that is your almost golden movement.

You're going to keep coming back to that almost as an exercise snack again, going back to that concept.

Keep repeating it.

And what people often find is the pain starts to reduce when they do that.

so this really helps in the early phases once that pain is under control we then want to start rebuilding strength around the area because it doesn't take long after having an injury like sciatica that pain in your leg for strength to start to reduce so true and with it mobility and with it confidence yeah so strengthening the glutes up strengthening the core strengthening the spine itself

absolutely vital for anyone who's been through this.

But you have to start by knocking that pain down a few notches first, because otherwise everything aggravates it.

Another good evidence-based thing is walking.