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I am recovering from sciatic nerve pain for a week now. How long does it take to recover and when can one return to training?
The pain has progressively gotten better through acupuncture treatments, herbal supplements and stretching and especially hot baths.
I am itching to get back to training.
Share your experience with this martial arts injury.
First i would make sure that you know the source of the pain. I thought mine was simply wear and tear but it was actually two severely ruptured discs L4-L5 and L5-S1 which led to me being paralyzed and ultimately to a rather invasive back surgery. As far as training well it took me out for years. If you have to have surgery which I hope you don't, it will wreck your core. In my case its still very hard to transfer power from my legs and if you thought stance training was bad before it becomes a whole new nightmare with back issues. The standing still will be excruciating. 1 minute of horse stance will seem like 10 hours.This is just my experience, I had an excellent surgeon but my injury was catastrophic in his words. Hopefully yours is just a pinched nerve or inflammation so your results could be radically different.
:) Hey, DragonMaster116 ! Now that you can see how disabling a sciatic nerve problem can be, you may want to try some self-help remedy as this may become a reoccurring condition throughout your life. That said, I have been dealing with this in my left hip/leg for the last 15 years. I have never gone to see a doctor for this and have not undergone any physical therapy. My work during the week is mostly physical and I could never really afford to be "laid up" for more than a day at any time, for any illness. When I first started having problems with this excruciating "pinched nerve" pain I realized that I was able to do a few "mule back kicks" on my left side. You can hang on to something if you need to but make sure nothing or any one is behind you in advance as you are not looking behind over your shoulder when you do this. This kick was effective in subduing immediately the pain and gave me complete relief where I only had to do this 2 or 3 times a year for the first 8 years, so, all in all, not that big of a deal. After a couple more years I found that I would be counting on my right side to help support the left which was subject to nerve pain and actual numbing of the left leg. Trying a number of exercises and different style kicks I found that doing Japanese style chest high kicks on both sides seemed to help a lot and also started to build and regain the strength and martial use of my left hip/leg. Now, at 65 years of age I practice the karate frontal kicks but use a Wingchun low right frontal snap kick/simultaneous right hand punch that seems to address the pain issue that would affect my mobility. So far it is able to keep any pain/numbness at bay for extended periods of time. * I know people who have gone in for physical therapy to have a sciatic nerve condition treated. For someone who can afford to take it easy for a few days afterwards (soreness from treatment) I would say that you are probably on the right track, especially if you have no physical demands at work, etc. For me, the key has to be immediate relief from pain for continuous mobility.
It has been three weeks since the initial onset of the sciatica pain. I am nearly pain free, however I can still feel the "discomfort" when I cough or make sudden moves. There is also a slight discomfort in my hips. I intend to start some Piriformis stretches in hopes of getting back to some light training by Sunday. After the stretches today, I will complete the session with a 20-minute Qigong breathing meditation . . .
:) Hey , DragonMaster116! Good to hear that you are back on track. Here's a video that you may want to check out that I found on Youtube. Look's like the good stuff for lasting results, I'm at a point where I will start these exercises for a way overdue reconditioning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YXglW9kvH4
Awesome supplementary video to my stretching. I may have to do this one tonight!
I got sciatica from an injury two years ago. It comes and goes still, sometimes it's real bad, sometimes it's not.
I still spar hard every week and train around it. It's usually pretty bad the morning after.
Unfortunately I had to stop running for quite some time...going to start up again in about a week.
Learn all those back stretches, I hope yours doesn't hang around long.
I have had lower back and hip pain for the last 25 years. In short it sucks. I never have had a clear diagnosis, but most orthopedics lean to SI joint injury. The SI joint and the hip seem to play off each other, one will start acting up the other follows. I have been doing many of the exercises in the linked video, and they do help. I would add lying down superman, and the use of ankle weights. Squats, good mornings, and dead-lifts help me the most. Not heavy squats, but a decent weight of 135 - 180 pounds.
I sincerely hope your issue does not come back, but if it does try to keep training. Being dormant makes sciatic/back/hip pain much worse, for me at least.
Went back to class today. Made it through warm-ups. Held horse stance instead of doing jumping jacks. Did all my forms slow without and jumps, crescent kicks instead of tornado kicks . . . and survived. Great to be back although it looks like a long road to get back to where I was.
Thanks to everyone for the exercises and support!