Healing Sciatica using the Feldenkrais Method

Many people turn to the Feldenkrais Method for relief from conditions that have not been
healed by other methods. One such condition is sciatica, a chronic pain in the buttock and
leg that is caused by pressure upon the sciatic nerve.

Among those who have found tremendous relief from sciatica through the Feldenkrais
Method is Ramon Castro, a veteran San Diego criminal defense lawyer who retired earlier
this year after practicing law for 37 years. Ramon first experienced radiating pain down his
left leg last fall. "Eventually my entire leg hurt," he recalls. "I was in very serious pain. I had
a severe problem."

Ramon consulted with a San Diego orthopedic surgeon who had treated him several times
over the years since Ramon had been in a serious auto accident in 1966. The surgeon told
Ramon he had a buildup of calcium in the nerve canals of the spine, known as stenosis. He
put Ramon on a six-week program of twice-weekly physical therapy.

But when the physical therapy ended in the mid-December, Ramon had experienced only
occasional relief from the chronic pain. A subsequent MRI revealed that a disk in his lower
back was bulging out and impinging upon his sciatic nerve.

The physician had told Ramon that surgery might well be necessary, but Ramon was
determined to find a non-surgical solution. Yet by Super Bowl Sunday, the pain was so bad,
"I could hardly walk from the kitchen to the bedroom," Ramon remembers. He had reached
the point, in fact, where he was considering using crutches just to get around, and he had
begun to think at times of having the surgery.

On the recommendation of a friend who had received Functional Integration lessons from
Donna Ray, Ramon decided in mid-January to consult with Donna. She began giving him
twice-weekly Functional Integration lessons, and she also had him attend a weekly ATM
lesson taught at the Feldenkrais Southern California Movement Institute by Denise Bergh,
and do daily lessons listening to ATM tapes at home.

"I didn't really notice anything for about two weeks, but then I noticed that my pain was
starting to subside and that I could walk better," he says. Soon the improvement was so
dramatic that after two months of regular lessons, Ramon joined his wife and two others on
a long auto trip to southern Mexico. "I could walk, I had no pain, and I drove all the way
down there and all the way back," he notes with satisfaction.

Eventually, he began receiving an FI lesson just once a month, in addition to doing tapes
regularly at home. And he has been enjoying the benefits of the Feldenkrais Method. "I
haven't had a problem yet with my leg or back," he says, noting that when necessary, he
has been able to engage in such strenuous activities as digging ditches, planting trees, and
cutting wood.

Even better, Ramon has seen improvements in other long-term physical problems. His other
leg, which was injured in the auto accident, is no longer as swollen as it used to be. "A lot of
little pains that I had in my neck have disappeared, too," he adds. "I am absolutely
convinced this method works."