Sciatica Treatment At Home | Sciatica Remedies

QI Spine Clinic, 3 years ago

How is sciatica treated?

Sciatica is a pain in the neck, back, or buttock that radiates down the back of the thigh and into the lower leg; which is usually caused by irritation of one or more of the lower spinal nerves. Sciatica pain may be mild or severe, and it often develops due to the wear and tear. It is often a symptom of severe back pain. It is best to get sciatica treatment as early as possible to avoid the advancement of symptoms. Non-surgical methods of treatment usually opt first for sciatica treatment. The first-line sciatica pain treatment consists mainly of physical therapy, medications, injections, alternative therapies, or a combination of these. Sciatica causes pain and discomfort, tingling, numbness, and weakness but many effective treatments are available for it. Generally, acute sciatica gets resolved within 4-6 weeks while chronic sciatica that lasts longer than 8 weeks may need longer treatment.

How to ease sciatic nerve pain?

Do you know why it hurts? Sciatic nerves travel from your lower back into your legs and when something gets pressed on them, you develop sciatica. Giving it sometimes is probably the best idea to ease sciatic nerve pain and one of the sciatica treatment options. You should keep moving, standing up, be physically active in order to ease your symptoms. Resting for a prolonged time may actually not help lessen your pain. Stress can also cause your muscles to tense up and seems to worsen the pain; so, you should try to change your thoughts and reduce stress.

What can you do to treat sciatica pain at home?

Sciatica needs to be treated differently depending on its cause. About 90% of people with sciatica will get better regardless of the cause without surgery. Often, sciatica goes away within 3 months with the help of conservative treatment which can be done in the comfort of your home. There are simple, easy self-care measures for sciatica pain treatment at home. You can start sciatica treatment at home and seek medical care if your symptoms don’t improve within few weeks.

Below listed are ways of sciatica pain treatment at home: –

• Use cold therapy – Applying ice can give you instant relief from sciatic nerve pain as ice helps in reducing inflammation and eases painful muscle spasms that accompany sciatica usually.

 

• Use heat therapy – Heat promotes blood flow to the painful area which speeds up the healing process. Apply heat for 15 mins to the painful area and relieves you from painful muscle spasms that are associated with sciatica.

 

• Check your posture – A wrong posture may greatly spike sciatica pain. Whereas a proper or correct posture helps to get rid of the pressure from our spine and reduces sciatica symptoms. You may find if you sit in one position for a long time or working on the laptop for a prolonged time can easily aggravate your sciatica pain.

 

• Physical therapy – Physical therapy promotes recovery and reduces your risk of future injuries to the sciatic nerve. Although you may not feel like exercising; it is ok to exercise as resting too much can intensify your back and leg symptoms.Movement is the one thing that can help you with pain. So, plan your working day with frequent breaks, for instance – you can take alternate breaks or sit-stand during cooking. Walking can help you in keeping the spine strong without doing any other damage.

 

• Stop activities or movements that may aggravate your symptoms and worsen sciatica pain. Avoid sitting for long hours and

 

• Grab medicines for immediate pain relief – You may take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines for quick sciatica pain relief.

 

• Acupuncture – Acupuncture is an alternate therapy that you can try for sciatica treatment at home.

 

• Breathing exercises – Do meditate or practice breathing exercises to improve your posture and reduce back pain.

 

• Massage therapy – When the muscles are tense, they tend to put more pressure on the sciatic nerve. Massaging these tense muscles might help in reducing the pressure on the sciatic nerve and soothe those muscles.Massage therapy is also an effective way for sciatica pain treatment at home.

 

• Manage your stress – Stress is one big factor that contributes to back pain. Some scientists believe sciatica can be triggered by emotional anxiety. During stress, the nerve cells are deprived of oxygen, leading to symptoms. Hence, keep the stress away and your symptoms will automatically go away.

 

Home Exercises for Sciatica

Mostly, people tend to rest or lay down or lean back in an easy chair assuming it will heal but it actually doesn’t help much. It is alright to rest for the first few weeks after the sciatica pain begins, however, later resting or staying in bed may worsen your pain. Whereas exercises can be helpful in sciatica pain treatment at home. Gentle stretching daily is an excellent way to enhance spinal flexibility and range of motion. It also helps in building core strength and spinal strength. Lower back stretching helps in relieving sciatica pain.

You may perform the following exercises after consulting your doctor: –

• Knee to chest stretch
• Back extensions
• Standing hamstring stretch
• Forward pigeon pose
• Reclining pigeon pose
• Sitting pigeon pose
• Aerobic exercises

When not to try treating sciatica on your own?

When you have weakness or if your leg pain increases while doing stretching exercises, then it best to stop it for some time and seek medical care. Forward bending poses may not be a good idea as it puts more disc pressure on nerves and you might have an episode. Besides; sleeping on a tummy, sitting on the floor should be avoided.