Everyday Habits That Could Be Contributing to Your Sciatica Pain

While your sciatic nerve may not cross your mind daily, when sciatica pain strikes, it likely becomes one of the only things you can think about. 

Your sciatic nerve extends from your lower back into your buttocks and down each leg. When this nerve becomes inflamed, it causes pain known as sciatica, and alongside sciatica pain, it can also cause tingling and numbness. 

At Neuropathy and Pain Centers of Texas in Fort Worth, Arlington, Waco, and Arlington, Texas, our expert medical professionals can diagnose and help treat sciatica pain. 

Some of the most common, everyday habits can cause and worsen sciatica pain. Read on to learn more.

Sitting at a desk all day

Living a sedentary life has become the norm for many people, which leads to not getting much physical activity. While many problems can occur as a result of a sedentary lifestyle, sitting at a desk all day can cause sciatica pain. 

Over an extended period, your muscles can become stiff, which can lead to sciatica pain, but there are several things you can do to lessen it. 

• Take a stretching break every hour to loosen up your leg and back muscles
• Stretch each day to keep your body flexible
• Try not to sit for extended periods without adequate walking and stretching breaks

Wearing tight pants

When thinking about what could be causing your sciatica pain to worsen, it’s possible it never occurred to you that your pants could be a problem. However, wearing tight pants can worsen sciatica pain as your muscles are compressed tighter than they should be. 

Wear loose pants that give your legs the room they need to move freely to avoid aggravating your sciatic nerve. 

Lifting heavy objects improperly

If you have a habit of regularly lifting heavy items in your daily life, then improper lifting techniques could be contributing to your sciatica pain. Using your legs the wrong way puts extra stress on your leg muscles and nerves, which can lead to back or nerve injuries. 

Work on introducing proper lifting techniques into your daily life to help reduce your sciatica nerve pain. 

Keeping items in your back pockets

Keeping large items in your back pockets, like your phone or wallet, can contribute to sciatica pain as those items dig into your buttock muscles. When something aggravates these muscles, they can, in turn, cause inflammation in your sciatic nerve, resulting in pain. 

If your sciatica pain doesn’t improve with these techniques, and you’re still suffering, call or book an appointment online with our team of medical experts.