How To Relieve Sciatica While Driving

What Causes Sciatica While Driving?

When you're driving and sitting with your right leg extended for long periods of time, that puts your sciatic nerve on tension.

Your nervous system is continuous from your brain, down your spinal cord, and all the way down to the tips of your toes.

Sitting in a 90° angle with your leg extended puts your nervous system in a maximum tension position.

Your nerves need three things to be healthy:

1. space to move
2. movement
3. blood flow

When you're sitting stationary in a position for a long period of time, you're lacking movement. That in turn decreases blood flow.

Anatomical causes of sciatica while driving

Furthermore, if you have something that's pinching the nerve in your lower back, that can create further tension on the sciatic nerve.

That can be from: 

• a bulging or herniated disc
• decreased space between your vertebrae (degenerative disc disease)
• spinal stenosis
• piriformis syndrome

Younger people tend to have more the herniated disc problems where flexed or rounded position positions of their lower back tend to bother them more.

Conversely, older people over the age of about 40 or 50 tend to have the opposite problem. As you age, you tend to lose space between your vertebrae. That narrows the spaces where the nerve roots that make up the sciatic nerve come out of your back.

As a result, sitting with too much arch (extension) in the lower back is also common cause of sciatica while driving.

How To Relieve Sciatica When Driving

Paying attention to your position of both your back and your leg can help relieve sciatica while driving.

How much lumbar support should you use?

The lumbar support is meant to do exactly that; it's supposed to support your lumbar spine or lower back.

Lumbar Support Pillow for Office Chair B...

(20183)

26% Off $38.99 $28.99 (as of May 3, 2024 09:16 GMT -05:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

You don't want the lumbar support pushed out so much that it's creating extra arch or extra extension in your back. However, you also don't want so little lumbar support that your lower back is too flexed.

As with most things, there's a happy medium.

Varying your spinal position while driving can also help relieve sciatica.

On example would be periodically doing an alternating pelvic tilt exercise.

This can help get some movement and blood flow which is again good for your nerves.

Additionally, you want to pay attention to the side to side and rotational position of your spine and of your pelvis.

As you're sitting with your right leg on the gas pedal and your left foot on the footrest, it puts your pelvis in a little bit of a left rotation.

Move your seat forward

Make sure that your seat isn't so far back that you're really having to reach with the right leg .

Moving your seat forward a little bit can help make it easier to reach the gas pedal without having your leg so straight.

Furthermore, many people will tend to sit with their weight a little bit more on their left butt cheek when they're driving.

As a result, that creates a slight right side bending of their spine.

That right side bending narrows the spaces where the nerves roots to the right sciatic nerve come out.

Sit on your right buttock with your trunk leaned to the left

Sitting with your weight a little more on the right but cheek or leaning your trunk a little bit towards the left side can help take some pressure off of of the right sciatic nerve.

Take frequent breaks when driving

Additionally, if you're on a long road trip it's a good idea to get out of the car every few hours to move around a little bit.  This gets blood flow to your nerves and gives your spine a change of position.

That way when you get back in the car you'll be able to drive a little bit longer without sciatica pain.

Need Help For Sciatica?

If you're in the St. Louis area and need help for sciatica, we'd be happy to help you.

Just tap the button below to request an appointment with one of our specialists.

Request An Appointment