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sciatica -- hacking your saddle
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kiki
May 4, 17 1:02
Post #1 of 6 (1637 views)
I've got a longstanding sciatica issue where the nerve (which I suspect runs through the piriformis) gets compressed on the downstroke, resulting in weakness while cycling and numbness after.

I've been through a gamut of fits, saddles, and angles and am now on a fizik tritone, which is better than most but is far from perfect.

The stroke improves if I shift laterally on the saddle so that the bad leg is essentially unsupported, relieving compression.

So here's the question -- has anyone here made a cut-out in the saddle to relieve something similar? I'm willing to try anything (including radically noseless options) but with all the old saddles kicking around am also willing to experiment.
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Re: sciatica -- hacking your saddle [kiki] [ In reply to ]
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doug in co
May 4, 17 9:03
Post #2 of 6 (1532 views)
relieved my sciatica/piriformis issues with a Profile Tri-stryke and a 5mm neoprene saddle cover on top.. the extra cushion from the neoprene cover is essential. The saddle is flat and has lots of padding.

rather than cutting holes in the saddle try the neoprene cover first.
if no luck with that, try adding orthopedic felt to cover all of the saddle except the problematic bit, then put the cover over that. That is, build up the saddle a few mm everywhere, but leave a 'cutout' in the necessary place. The neoprene cover will protect from any odd edges etc left from hacking with the saddle.

I have a roll of felt, used for metatarsal arch lifts in the insoles of all my shoes, was going to try this next, but the neoprene plus the flat well-padded saddle turned out to be enough.

All this will affect saddle height so may need to drop 5-10mm or so.
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Re: sciatica -- hacking your saddle [doug in co] [ In reply to ]
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kiki
May 4, 17 10:51
Post #3 of 6 (1480 views)
great advice, many thanks.

I'll start easy, with a saddle pad, then move on.
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Re: sciatica -- hacking your saddle [kiki] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul
May 5, 17 9:10
Post #4 of 6 (1394 views)
kiki wrote:
great advice, many thanks.

I'll start easy, with a saddle pad, then move on.

Are you sure that the problem is your sciatica getting compressed by the saddle. Seems like a weird spot for it to have pressure since I would think it would pass from the spine downstream further up on your glute from the saddle. I THINK the issue is when you go over the top of the pedal stroke and your glute activates and tries to fire, and the muscle is compressing all around the nerve and then you get weakness in the foot downstream. I can literally feel his happening. When I stand and am out of the saddle, less so, when I am seated on the road bike more so, if I get in the aerobars and put more weight on my arms and less on the base of my spine, then less so (LOL...moral of the story, ride aero, don't sit up....that should be ST approved).

What do you think?
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Re: sciatica -- hacking your saddle [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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kiki
May 5, 17 9:39
Post #5 of 6 (1378 views)
not to derail my own thread completely but due to the common ground :>

i've spend the past month retraining the bad leg's femoral head to sit in the socket completely upright and vertical, as opposed to hitting it obliquely (due to leg length imbalance/scoliosis). Lots of single leg standing, hip hikes and glute med work to get it columnar and strong. Threw out the insoles on bad side to further level out pelvis.

Shortly thereafter started feeling that the deep glute tissues (around and about pirformis) were matted and gunky and sore, with very poor glide relative to other side. So started some stretches, cat back, standing, with hands on knees, to improve it.

Cut to today, where suddenly started feeling hindmost internal rotator flicking at terminus of plant, just before the heel lifts. And everything got easier. It must have been locked rigid before. So this little muscle just below the pubic arch has been holding my leg hostage for forever.

a very long way of saying you're right -- compression and/or hypercontraction is very much a culprit. Now to figure out how to unlock it in the same way on the bike.

Hope some of this is useful, thanks as always Paul!
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Re: sciatica -- hacking your saddle [kiki] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul
May 5, 17 17:13
Post #6 of 6 (1334 views)
kiki wrote:
not to derail my own thread completely but due to the common ground :>

i've spend the past month retraining the bad leg's femoral head to sit in the socket completely upright and vertical, as opposed to hitting it obliquely (due to leg length imbalance/scoliosis). Lots of single leg standing, hip hikes and glute med work to get it columnar and strong. Threw out the insoles on bad side to further level out pelvis.

Shortly thereafter started feeling that the deep glute tissues (around and about pirformis) were matted and gunky and sore, with very poor glide relative to other side. So started some stretches, cat back, standing, with hands on knees, to improve it.

Cut to today, where suddenly started feeling hindmost internal rotator flicking at terminus of plant, just before the heel lifts. And everything got easier. It must have been locked rigid before. So this little muscle just below the pubic arch has been holding my leg hostage for forever.

a very long way of saying you're right -- compression and/or hypercontraction is very much a culprit. Now to figure out how to unlock it in the same way on the bike.

Hope some of this is useful, thanks as always Paul!

Can I ask you to try something. Go to the pool and water run and try to dorsiflex as high as possible while bringing you knee forward and up (like Usein Bolt's frontt end of his stride). The "hip" angle at this point should be similar to when riding in the drops/aero. Do you have weakness in the dorsiflex? In the water, your knee is driving high and the glute/piriformis should getting to the same range but without saddle pressure underneath. I THINK if you go through this exercise, you'll know the root of the problem. I am guessing it is "not" the pressure the saddle is applying. I actually hope I am wrong though. But if I can correct, perhaps riding with a more upright position with a bigger hip angle and maybe shorter cranks may all add up to get things "better". Also do you have the same weakness while riding standing up or just sitting?
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