Sciatica, also known as sciatic nerve pain, can be a distressing illness that can really degrade your quality of life if left untreated.Sciatic nerve stretching exercises can really help you on your road to becoming sciatic nerve pain free, but first you need to understand how sciatica is caused.

Sciatica is basically damage to the sciatic nerve that is triggered by pinching of
the nerve from tight muscles, or tension being placed on the nerve. Because the sciatic nerve begins in your lower back, and moves down, all the way through the back of your leg and hamstrings, excessively tight muscles can create a pinch, which can cause lower back pain .

Generally, these overly tight muscles mean that muscles in the surrounding areas are quite weak, and this is determined to be the most common cause of sciatica. You can combat this, and relieve nerve pain by regular sciatica exercises .

Another thing that can cause sciatic nerve damage is occupations such as truck driving, where you  are sitting for a prolonged period, and being bounced around at the same time, which applies pressure  and stress on the sciatic nerve. Sciatica can also be caused by a herniated lumbar disc, in which case, simply performing sciatica  stretches won’t help too much, and can in fact in up harming your sciatic nerve further.

In order to determine the type of sciatica you may be suffering from, try this simple exercise. Sitting upright in a chair, stretch your leg that you are having pain in, straight out.If your pain increases, most likely true sciatica is to blame, and you have a  herniated disk.Another test that is helpful in discovering where your sciatica is developing,  is gently pulling your knee on your tender side, to your shoulder on the same side.  Then relax a  bit and proceed to pull the knee towards the opposite shoulder, and gauge your pain.If it is more painful pulling to  the opposite shoulder, then most likely you are suffering from sciatica induced by tight muscles.

Here are 2 simple Sciatica nerve stretchesyou can perform for sciatic pain relief : Lying flat on your back, pull your knee up to each shoulder.This can help to stretch out overly tight hamstrings. Be careful though, because if you suffer from a herniated disc than this exercise can exacerbate it.

The second stretching exercise you can perform is a yoga move, where you lie flat on your stomach, and proper yourself up on your elbows while looking up slightly. This creates a slight curve in your lower spine and helps to relieve pressure and pain. But again, be careful, because if your sciatica is caused by a facet syndrome, this can worsen it.

Also, sometimes this may aggravate your pain temporarily, but it usually improves with repetition, and it is better to get up and move around for a while in between repetitions, and take a break. Both of these sciatica exercises can help you heal, as long as you perform them several times a day for as long as you experience nerve pain or numbness, and there are no other causes of your sciatica you are unaware of.

Another thing to remember is that sciatica is rarely caused by just one factor. In some cases, it may be due to facet syndrome, which I briefly mentioned above. That involves rear joints at the base of your spine. In that case, extending your back like mentioned above can actually exacerbate your symptoms, and it is suggested to lie flat on your back and hug your knees. However, again this can put pressure on any herniated disc problems. Thus the absolute best thing you can do is to visit your doctor before performing any Sciatica stretches, and find out exactly where the cause of the pain is originating from, is the safest and wisest route to take.You can then be referred to a therapist who can demonstrate the proper exercises and sciatica stretches you should be attempting.