Could My Back Exercises Have Caused A Pinched Nerve?
I recently started doing a lot of midsection exercises including leg flutters for the lower back. About a week later, parts of my left leg and foot started to go painfully numb for about an hour (two separate occasions). Could my exercises have caused a pinched nerve?
January 14th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Pinched nerves usually occur within several hours of injury – if you’re doing the exercises daily, then it’s likely you’re not stretching enough (if you’re stretching at all) before beginning your routine. If the pain and numbness is down into the foot, that’s a pinched nerve in the lower lumbar area, between L4 and S1. You’ll be able to tell as it’ll feel like a 10gage needle in your back.
If the pain is just in the leg and you don’t feel anything in the back, then it’s probably not related to the exercises. The lumbar nerve pathways are specific and traceable, and if you’ve irritated a nerve enough to feel it in your legs and foot, then you should definitely feel it in your back. In fact, you’d have a hard time walking and standing at all.
It’s easy to pinch a nerve temporarily if you’re doing the exercises incorrectly (wrong position), are resting on something that’s pressing into the nerve, or as I said previously, if you’re not flexible enough. Most people don’t bother to stretch at all before beginning to exercise, or don’t stretch enough. Anything less than 20-30 minutes isn’t enough.
There’s an easy way to figure out if the problem is related to your exercises or not – stop doing them for a week. You’ll know one way or the other by then.