The Sciatic Nerve
Can The Feldenkrais Method help with Sciatica and Sciatic Pain?
Backpain has many causes and most of them are difficult to pinpoint. Once you have established that your backpain and sciatic pain is not of malicious origin and life threatening you can look at the options available to you to alleviate the pain and treat the underlying cause.
Most people will consult a doctor when they suffer from backpain and they should as backpain can signal more serious health problems. Mostly the doctor will prescribe rest and some form of medication such as non steroidal anti-inflamatories and some form of pain-killer.
Many people who experience recurring backpain will try to look for an alternative to medication and consult a Physiotherapist, Chiropractor or Osteopath to name a few common choices, very few will consult a Feldenkrais practitioner. This is because the Feldenkrais method is still relatively unknown. It is not a passive method, but an active one, by this I mean that your back is not adjusted for you or put right. You explore your own body and actively participate in your own recovery.
Most of the musculoskeletal pains we suffer from are a result of poor use of oneself. As we grow up we take on bad habits as a result of our lifestyle. Sitting long hours at school and after school, not exercising much, leading sedentary lives. We move in a very limited way. This causes sections of our back, usually the lower back to take on more work than it should as other parts are not functioning as they should be.
The feldenkrais method works with this issue and helps you regain more freedom in movement and give you a choice where before you only did a movement in one particular way. When you add choice of movement in all the different vertebral bones of your back and allow them to move in a differentiated way and not as a few large blocks you begin you reduce the load and pressures on the parts that are under strain. This in turn reduces the pain and brings you back to a place where the pain is less acute.
If you practice Awareness Through Movement Lessons regularly you will notice the effect on the way you move about, the way you walk and do physical activities. With enough practice you will regain flexibility and suppleness where once you had reduced mobility and pain.
