Training & Nutrition - Has anyone else here suffered with Sciatica?

I was wondering if anyone else here has ever been plagued with sciatica. I suspect it may have been cycling that brought it on. I suffered a particularly painful attack which pretty much immobilized me for a week after going on a long ride( at least by my standards). At any rate, its been two months now and the condition is pretty much under control so I have been easing back into regular riding. I have noticed a little discomfort but nothing nearly as severe as the initial attack. Both my Medical Doctor and my Chiropractor agree that I should be O.K. if I take it easy and stretch properly first. So, my question is, Is this kind of thing common to cyclists? or am I just the unlucky bastard? If anyone else has had this problem, how have you dealt with it? Any information would be greatly appreciated. I am not giving up riding, but the pain can sure be discouraging.

I've contribute the little I know from my own experiences, so have a look at this thread (which then points to another good thread).

http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18304

A couple of years ago, I had a bad case of sciatica. I was doing A LOT of riding and running, combined with a whole bunch of indoor cycling. One day, I went in for a yoga morning class. I ran for an hour before class, then when I got to class, my back felt funny. I just figured I would stretch a lot and I'd be ok, so I finished my class, then I went to work. By the time I got to work, I could hardly walk, and when I got to my desk, I laid on the floor and couldn't get up. I couldn't reach the phone to call for help, so I had to wait over an hour for someone to get to work and find me.

I spent about the next 2 weeks on my back. It was excruitiating pain, and even with Vicodin, I still suffered. And when I finally got out of bed and was able to walk around, I had to use a cane for another week and a half. To this day, I still have bad back pain.

I went to a physical therapist, and they thought that it could be triggered by my periformis muscle- a muscle deep in the butt that can constrict and shorten, triggering sciatica. They gave me a lot of stretching exercises for me to stretch that muscle out. I do those stretches, plus hamstring stretches and some lower back stretches. All that helps to keep my sciatica from coming back.

I really think sciatica can be triggered by any sport- if you're doing a lot of training or exercising and you're not stretching, it may happen to you. A quick search on Google or Webcrawler for some stretching exercises will give you some great stretches you can use to avoid this from happening. It's no fun when it's severe enough that you can't move at all- my mother had to come and stay with me, and I was so bad off I couldn't do anything for myself- go to the bathroom, take a shower, eat... my mother had to do all that stuff for me. I would not want to wish that on anyone.

KB

my mom suffered for years... but she had hurt her back falling from a horse as a child... i recently had a couple of bouts with it..
did these exercises as the DR. recommended and i am feeling a lot better now
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/2914/index.html
some sciatica stretches at this site

maybe these can help you.. i hope so.. just make sure you don't over do anything.. tricky si joint is a b.... to fix up :)

Sciatica is really common-cyclists get it a lot because of the sitting. I was having problems with it as well, a combination of cycling and sitting. It was an irritation of the sciatic nerve. Tight hamstrings and muscles and pull on the sciatic nerve, just like you described. They showed me some stretches to do and it does help. It's really important to stretch those hamstrings after a ride and running.