Oy My Lumbago! Sciatica is Kicking My Butt

I have been calling the first one sciatica: "lower back and buttocks pain and tingling, numbness and some weakness that originates in the lower back and travel through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg" and the second one has been described fascial adhesion. The fascia is a thin sheath of fibrous tissue enclosing a muscle or other organ.

I have barely needed to know about all of these things because I have always been super-strong and resilient. I have also been generally much better at stretching before and after I ran or lifted, rowed, or sculled.

Myofascial release (MFR) is what I am all about now. My muscles are still strong and quick-to-respond but adding kettlebells swings -- maybe even the unique all-day-long stresses of the Get Fit, Get Fierce with Kettlebell Swings by Don Fitch which seems simpler and more gentle than I had thought: 90-seconds of kettlebell swings followed by an hour of rest, all day long.

Well, I had started by trying to use a foam roller to to smooth out my aching body but when your mobility is a little limited by injury and extra weight, I didn't use that heavy, solid, black foam roller nearly as much as I should.