Situps is a curse, not even a word deffinetly not an exercise. What you want to do is a variety of crunches. Crunch is defined in my training sessions as being flat on your back, bending your knees up, imagining a string pulling your SHOULDERS up off the floor 3-5 inches while holding your head straight with your back. If you do it correctly, your neck will NEVER be bent, therefore you will not hurt your back. You (and anyone) should NEVER do situps. It was proven to harm more than to help years ago. Crunches can be done with extra resistance by bringing your hands and placing them of your tummy for the Âeasiest crunch. Placing the hands on your chest will make the exercise a bit harder and placing them behind your neck (only fingers touching) will make it really hard to perform. Do NOT pull your head up off the floor use your abs to squeeze the muscle and lift your shoulders off the floor. When you reach a level that crunches is no problem for you, try to place a book on your chest to increase the resistance. Now, there are Reverse crunches as well for the really lower abs. Be on your back, place your arms to the sides (like a cross) to maintain balance and now raise your knees towards your chest while your feet are at the same height of your knees. If you really want to challenge your self, be on your back, raise your legs up and maintain them straight as you can in vertical position. Now do a crunchÂ. This will really burn. Regarding repetitions: To START I would recommend three sets of 10 reps five days a week  never on the full stomach. When you feel comfortable with that, INCREASE the time of each repetition (do 5 seconds up, and 5 seconds down) and keep the same number of sets. DonÂt EVER exercise fast! It never works. Always stretch your body before and after exercising. My wife had a C-section and with the above program she is nearly fully back to the flat abs she had before pregnancy. It took six monthsÂ. Hope it helps Ron

Sending good thoughts and prayers to you both, especially for a good prognosis when the pain is checked out. (((((HUGS)))))

"And if you google pilates for sciatica you can find exercises to try at home." "Another important factor is getting or keeping weight off the stomach, and strengthening the stomach muscles. A big belly with weak muscles can put a lot of stress on the spine." I have had one bout of sciatica that came on suddenly and was incredibly painful-quoted the above insights because what has worked for me is Pilates. I was taking group lessons and when the trainer went out on her own I followed her. She is very good at getting me to move and stretch past what I would do on my own without straining or overdoing it; Pilates of course is also all about strengthening one's core muscles and I've not had any more sciatic problems. Thank goodness for that, it was one of the most excruciating pains I've ever experienced. Ann

EllenP123 , I have been mulling over what to post since I read the above last week. I am sure you did not intend it to be humerus but I laughed reading that you" went to bed 49 and woke up 100". I have been struggling with horrific leg pain for over two years. I daily think holy moly how in the world do people with chronic pain function.Although I have been dealing with my leg pain for months I am not going to categorized it as chronic. My first reaction to my leg pain was to see an ortho specialist who dx the leg pain as stress fractures since I had carried over 900 pieces of granite over a two week period. Yup I counted them. The M.D. gave me a few packets of celebrex that was given to him by the pharmaceutical sales rep. I told the Doctor I am allergic to Aleeve. Alleeve makes me swell and I gained five pounds after three doses. I was smart and had removed my wedding band . It took a good week to reduce the swelling since Alleve has a long half life. Those who are allergic to aleeve are recommended not to take celebrex. I questioned the Medical Doctor who assured me I was misinformed. I took one dose on the way home since the leg pain was horrific. Within two hours I was a mess. It felt as someone was squeezing my heart. I did not need to be hospitalized but monitored . I no longer take Motrin since this is a sister NSAID of celebrex and Aleeve. My point is there are some majorly hubris doctors out there who screw up at your expense. I have had a few nights where I cry cause the leg pain is horrible. No position soothes the ache . I have tried rest, aspirin, warm soaks, ice packs, massage therapy,accupuncture and a dose of darvocet . I came across a book a few years ago about how the body is aligned in two parts. While attempting to find a position to relieve the pain I massaged my toes, foot pad, achilles tendon, tibia ,fibula, knee,thigh, hip ,butt and lower back with a tennis ball. What I figured out is that the pain is in my knee area but when I massage the upper thigh and achilles the pain goes away. A few years a go I had tennis elbow from shoveling the driveway for five hours. When I massaged the shoulder blade and my pectoral muscle the elbow pain disappeared. Pain is not simple . One must identify the source. For me the pain is due to overused muscles and menopause. I am tiny but can llft 60 pounds with ease. If you gave me 62 lbs I balk. I think for some the pain we are experiencing is the lose of estrogen so our tendons get brittle. I too went to bed feeling great and awoke with the crippling pain. What i found that works is to take care of yourself. Take breaks when doing your chores. Swim. Stay active. Place down pillows under your hip and knees at night. Take calcium with magnesium DAILY eat bananas three times a week. The potassium helps with any cramps MAssage your legs from toes to butt with a rolling pin or tennis ball. Make sure you stretch the ham strings( the rear thigh leg muscles). So after two years of several medical visits, accupuncture treatments and masseuse visits for me I figured out what works for me. Some who go into menopause never experience leg pain whereas others are crippled. I was 45 when the periods stopped. My male ob gyn said this was impossible. Sorry but not everyone is a text book case. I have had some wonderful male physicians but at this point in my life I need someone who is informed on a women's life cycle. THe key is to enjoy life. Drink the coffee if it makes you feel good. You will need to experiment with your diet , and supplements. I found that black cohosh did squat. Eating the bananas and religiously taking my calcium with Mg helps. You are not alone. Pilates helped too!!!!!! My mind is racing since I need to get my chores done. A sip of wine at night helps some. For me a little rhum took the pain down a notch. My best solution is the stretcthing and staying active. I am still in pain at times but I can manage it.