Struggling with sciatica? Here’s why you need to try nerve flossing

Despite its name, nerve flossing has nothing to do with your teeth. It’s a technique involving a gentle exercise that moves a nerve back and forth to help release tension. It’s easy to do and can work well for people with sciatica, which is a nerve pain that starts in your lower back and travels down your leg.

Like many, I had never heard of nerve flossing until I needed it myself. I had been experiencing a bizarre pain in my leg and couldn’t pinpoint what was going on. I’d spend hours stretching, moving and manipulating my muscles but nothing was helping. It was only when I met sports therapist Daine McKibben Rice that I was introduced to the technique. Within a couple of days, the irritation in my leg had greatly reduced and almost disappeared.

How was it that something so simple could put me out of my misery? And why hadn’t I heard about this miracle move before? Here, McKibben explains how nerve flossing is done.

Sciatic nerve floss

• Lie on your back.
• Bend one knee into your chest and clasp both hands behind the thigh.
• Extend the same leg toward the ceiling. Remember to move within your comfort level—you might not be able to extend the leg fully.
• Flex your foot, then point your foot.
• Lower your leg back down to the bent knee position.

Repeat up to 20 times

How quickly should you start to feel results?

"By simply performing a nerve flossing technique for 1-2 mins, it can give instant relief," says McKibben. However, he adds that's not always the case, which is why it’s advised to use it in combination with other exercises and rehab modalities.

If you’re new to the exercise, it’s best to build up intensity gradually. "Don’t feel the need to push to your limit and do as many reps as possible. It’s important to allow some time for adaption, so take it slow to start," says McKibben.

Is there anything else nerve-flossing can help with?

Yes, nerve flossing can help relieve upper limb, as well as lower limb pain. It can also be used as part of a warm-up before weightlifting. "It’s so important that our nervous system is able to adapt to mechanical load when training, as it will experience elongation, sliding, cross-sectional change, angulation, and compression, especially in movements like deadlifting for example," explains McKibben.

"Think of hinging forward to set up for a deadlift and you feel a pull in your hamstring that runs into your calf and even foot. Sound familiar? Well, that could be nerve tension. So pre-lift, if you perform nerve flossing, this will prepare the nerves for the movement, which will decrease the tension, improve your range of motion and give you a better output for the lift itself," he adds