Sciatic pain can be absolutely brutal! But the good news is sciatic pain can be treated and cured with Tai Chi and Qigong!
Sciatic pain is a pinched nerve pain that is felt in one’s legs. Sciatic pain can be extremely severe and disabling. The sciatic nerve is the size of your little finger when it exits the spinal column. It is a huge nerve! And when it is pinched it complains loudly! Sciatic pain is caused by the sciatic nerve being pinched where it exits the spinal column in the lower back before the nerve extends down your leg. Although the nerve is pinched by the spinal vertebrae the pain is not felt in the lower back. Instead, the pain is perceived, felt, or experienced in lower leg, thigh, or hip. If it is less severe it is often felt lower in the leg. When it is more severe you might feel pain in your whole leg, hip, and lower back.
The good news is that in most cases the sciatic nerve is being pinched by a combination of muscular tension and poor posture. Sitting for many hours, especially while driving can cause the lower back to get tight, to become misaligned, and painful. Driving a car is particularly bad because you are pushing a pedal on the floor of the car with only one leg for long time. This creates a prolonged imbalanced use of the muscles in the hip and lower back. If the sciatic nerve gets pinched by a large amount of sitting and especially sitting with poor posture compressing or titling the lower back this condition can be improved with proper exercise. Tai Chi and Qigong are great sources of the exact type of exercise that helps relieve lower back pain and sciatic nerve and sciatic pain in particular.
Tai Chi and Qigong work exceptionally well to help relieve the sciatic pain because they work with the posture of the lower spine, pelvis, and thighs in a conscious and positive manner. One of the key points of correct posture in both Tai Chi and Qigong is to level ones hips side to side, and front to back, creating a poised balance free of excessive tension. To actually level and balance the pelvis while moving, stepping, shifting one’s weight and turning one’s waist is a fantastic way to improve the condition, strength, and flexibility of the lower spine as well.
For almost everyone starting Tai Chi or Qigong who is not already an experienced and skillful yoga practitioner they will have patterns of tension and imbalance and tightness in their lower back and hips. With a little practice people can release the excess tension, relax the muscles surrounding the base of the spine and gradually release habitual patterns of tightness. As soon as the lower back begins to unwind, relax, and open up the area around the sciatic nerve the sciatic pain will be reduced. As soon as most or all the tension is released all the sciatic pain will go away.
Sometimes this happens quickly. I have seen people learn how to release the tension in the lower back, level their hips, relieve their lower back and sciatic nerve pain in a single session many times. I have also seen people relieve it in a single week of practice or even a single month even though they may have been suffering for years. I have seen elderly as well as younger people get fantastic relief in shorter periods of time. I have also seen people really struggle and gradually break through deep scar tissue and massive restriction caused by trauma like I have.
If your sciatic pain is caused by traumatic injury and you have lots of scar tissue restricting your ranges of motion and causing lots of pain it can take longer. It might take a lot of effort but even in these situations I have personally experienced huge benefits from Tai Chi and Qigong practice in relieving sciatic pain and I have also seen long term students make great recoveries of function and wellbeing. If your condition is more severe, Tai Chi and Qigong can be a fantastic adjunct to any other therapy you may be using.
In some cases, the tension in the lower back and pelvic area can be caused by emotional or psychological tension caused by trauma or abuse. In these cases, releasing some of the trapped emotional and mental energy and healing will be necessary before the lower back and hips can relax and rebalance. Again, the good news is the gentle movements and deep breathing of Tai Chi and Qigong are simply brilliant at helping people relieve and release these types of traumas and tension. Moving slowly, breathing deeply, and focusing the mind on posture and movement are extremely calming and relaxing for mental and emotional tension as well as physical tension.