Many people have sciatic related hip pain which prevents them from sitting for prolonged periods of time. Driving tends to be the worst position of them all for someone dealing with Sciatica.
Ultimately nerves like 3 things: Space, blood flow, and movement.
When you are sitting, the sciatic nerve is compressing (which under normal circumstances should not be a problem). There is also no movement while sitting. Then between sitting still and the compression of your butt to the chair, blood flow is restricted as well.
This is why (even while healthy) if you sit on a hard wood chair for too long you need to shift from side to side because pressure will accumulate in the muscles around the butt.
Plus, if it is your right leg then likely you use that foot for the gas and break pedal. The knee extension required to do this also places the sciatic nerve on stretch.
All these factored together are a perfect storm for pain to be extra sensitive when dealing with sciatica. So we need to do things that helps desensitize the area in order to allow you sit for longer periods of time once again. This might include some of the following:
1) Gradual exposure of nerve tension through exercise
2) Hip strengthening to comfortably expose the nerve back to periods of compression WITHOUT pain
3) Mobility exercises to decrease pressure accumulation around the sciatic nerve
4) Aerobic activity to improve blood flow and encourage movement to desensitize the tissue
5) Massage, Dry Needling, or Cupping to help desensitize the currently irritable tissue and allow for more exercise/movement comfort.
Below is a testimonial from a patient who was having these exact problems. Then with a specific plan for her based upon a full body diagnostic session we were able to help her to eliminate all pain while sitting and drive from Ann Arbor, Michigan to North Carolina without a problem!
If you are dealing with something similar and wish to know how we can help, the easiest place to start is requesting a FREE Discovery Session.