Jennifer Boyer on thu 24 apr 08
Great description of your exercises John! My yoga teacher is a
massage therapist and she said that this sciatica can be thought of
as the butt muscles being tight and pressing on the nerve. When you
stretch out the muscles, making yourself more flexible, they stop
pressing on the nerve and the pain eventually eases.
I have an issue that also responds to stretching and is similar in
that it involves a nerve being pressed by a muscle. I get the classic
carpal tunnel numbness in the first 3 fingers. This same massage
therapist suggested stretching my pectoral muscles: the ones that go
from the side of the chest to the upper arm. I stand in a doorway
with my hands held as if someone said "hands up!" in an old western.
Then I place my forearms on the door jambs and lean, gently
stretching the pecs. My numbness goes away instantly. It's SO great!
She says that potters have very tight muscles in the front of the
body from wedging, throwing, etc. She says the nerve involved with
carpal tunnel actually has several places along it's route from hand
to spine where it can be pinched. So the wrist is not always the
problem.
It's comforting to know that many of our aches and pains are muscle
related rather than skeleton related. We can DO something about then
ourselves through exercising.
Jennifer,
On Apr 23, 2008, at 10:02 PM, John Rodgers wrote:
> Ilene,
>
> I am sorry to hear that you have sciatica. What misery. Can't sit,
> can't
> lie down, can't stand up, hurts to go down stairs, but can go up
> stairs
> ok, feels like someone hit you in the calf with a baseball bat, big
> toe
> is numb, buttock hurts way down deep. Sound familiar??
>
>
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Jennifer Boyer
Thistle Hill Pottery
Montpelier, VT
http://thistlehillpottery.com
http://jboyerdesign.com
http://artisanshand.com
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