4-Minute Acute Flare Routine
For the first 48 hours of acute sciatica. Very gentle, no forced positions. Three movements designed to settle nerve irritation, not provoke it.
Best for: Fresh sciatic pain, very reactive, pain at 5-8/10. Position-changes feel risky.
The centralisation principle in this routine
Acute sciatica: tissue is reactive. The acute routine uses only gentle, well-tolerated positions and the nerve floss (which is a glide, not a sustained stretch). If any single stretch makes pain travel further down your leg, skip it and continue with the others.
What you'll do
- 01
Knees-wide variant. Gentle decompression. Stop if pain peripheralises.
- 02Sciatic Nerve Flosspulse30s each side
PULSE, do NOT hold. 10 reps each side, gentle range only.
- 03Supine Piriformis Stretch30s each side
Half normal hold. Back off if pain travels further down the leg.
How the timer works
When you hit start, the timer reads out each step. Three-second get-ready, the hold (with a ten-second warning), five-second rest, then onto the next move. Voice can be muted from the top right. The nerve floss is flagged in the timer as a pulse (do not hold the end position).
If pain shoots further down your leg, stop. That is peripheralisation, which signals nerve root irritation rather than therapeutic stretch. Switch to the acute flare routine and see a physiotherapist if it persists past 48 hours.