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The Secrets of Sciatica – What Is It and Is It Treatable?
Sciatica pain comes from inflammation of the sciatic nerve. Pain is felt from your lower back, down to the back of your thigh and the pain will shoot down below your knee. It can even be felt in calf, ankle and foot. This is the largest nerve in the body. The nerve roots begin in the lumbar spinal cord in your lower back and extend down through your buttocks area. It will send nerve endings down to the lower limbs. Sciatica usually is caused by a disc herniation that puts pressure on a nerve. As a result of this, irritation or inflammation on this nerve can produce these warning signs of sciatica. Irritation can be caused by adjacent bone, tumors, injury, infections, internal bleeding.
It used to be that bed rest was the best option for this type of back pain. This is no longer the case. Most doctors now recommend waiting and avoiding certain activities while the back heals. Gentle stretching and activity can help you work through the pain and aid in the healing process.
There are ways to avoid sciatic pain and other reoccurring pain in your lower back:
When lifting use a safe technique
Do not stand or sit in same position for to long at a time
Exercise and stretching on a regular basis can really be effective
Try not to carry a wallet in your back pocket
Sleep on back with pillow under knees or pillow in between knees if sleeping on
your side
Try to keep stomach muscles in shape
Always wear comfortable well-fitted shoes
One common cause of sciatica is a pinched nerve in the five sets of nerve roots in the lower back. One common problem that causes this pain is a herniated disc. This is when a disc bulges or is herniated. It can put pressure up against the nerve root and pinch delicate nerve tissues and cause sciatica. There are also acidic, chemical irritants that the disc material can hold. This can cause inflammation on your nerves. All of this leads to numbness, tingling, and weakness in muscles in your limbs.
Fortunately there are many different types of treatment out there for people suffering from sciatic pain. It is good to know that surgery is not the only treatment these days. There is the non-surgical type of treatments such as ultra sound and deep tissues massage. Cold and heat compresses are used in passive treatments to relax and warm up muscles for more direct therapy. Therapy will also help by increasing you flexibility, range of motion and building over all stronger muscles.
Chiropractic adjustments can also be a very help form of treatment. Adjustments can help ease nerve irradiation that can be causing all the sharp pain, inflammation and muscle spasms that are usually associated with sciatica. Adjustments are safe and should be pain free. Spinal manipulation is also very safe, too. If there is any real discomfort during or after adjustment make sure to let your chiropractor know right away.
Sciatica can be very complicated and might not be treated by a chiropractor. That is not your only solution. You should talk to your doctor and chiropractor and discuss other forms of treatment that may help your sciatica.
Acupuncture is also another alternative to non-surgical type treatment. Acupuncture is an old Chinese tradition. Needles are inserted into unseen pathways to unblock energy that are being blocked in the body. These blocked pathways in your body are what cause the pain. Acupuncture gives out natural pain relieving opioids. These opioids send out signals that calm the sympathetic nervous system and releases neurochemicals and hormones.
Acupressure is also another alternative. It is very similar to acupuncture, but there are not needles involved. They simply put pressure with thumbs, fingers and elbow to specific body points. Acupressure uses pressure and rubbing in these specific points to stimulate the body. Acupressure and acupuncture points are the exact same.
Yoga may relieve some of your sciatic pain because it is a great exercise using different poses that stretch and lengthen muscles. You are shown how to properly breathe while doing these exercises to get the full affect from them. You are taught to do the pose so that it is comfortable for you. You may be doing the same pose as the person next to you, but you both may look a little different. With the different poses and breathing you will start to feel everything open up and you will feel muscles in your back, neck and shoulders start to relax.
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