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Sciatica Pain – Issues and Treatments

Sciatica pain can be an uncomfortable condition, created through pressure on the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body and runs from the lower back down both legs. The pain can be felt in the lower back, butt, legs or feet and can be a dull ache, a tingle, a numb feeling or acute pain.The severity of the pain is largely dependent upon the amount of irritation and damage caused to the sciatic nerve.

Sciatica pain can be caused by a number of conditions, such as spinal misalignment, slipped disc, injury to the hips, Piriformis syndrome (Piriformis is a muscle that runs from the lower back to the hip bone, and runs across the sciatic nerve). Pregnancy, a tumor, spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis may also cause the same symptoms.

Pain can become worse with certain movements, here are the most common ones:

Sitting down or standing up;
Bending over;
Whilst in bed sleeping;
Walking;
From sudden movements such as coughing, sneezing or laughing.

There are many symptoms that can indicate Sciatica; here are some of the most common:

Sharp pain particularly in the lower back, possibly also in the hip, down the leg or in the foot;
Weakness, numbness (as if the leg has gone to sleep) difficulty putting weight on the leg through discomfort;

The sciatica pain symptoms are typically experienced only on one side of the body, and the pain may be continual or it may occur infrequently and ‘flare ups’ are experienced.

Sciatica Treatment

Sciatica causes are numerous and therefore there are an equal number of treatments for each.There are a large number of treatments that can one can attempt to try to relieve pain quickly. To be safe, anyone feeling pain from what they suspect is Sciatica should consult a medical practitioner to ensure that there are no serious issues that need to be resolved first.

To take down the swelling caused by irritation to the sciatic nerve, ice should be applied to the painful area, for example the lower back. Keep applying the ice packs once the pain builds back up (Approximately every hour or so). Applying heat at this point will relax the muscles, but may also increase the swelling once again, so use only if helpful;
Rest can be good to a point so that no further injury occurs and the swelling goes down. However too much rest and your back and muscles may seize up, so make sure you do some light exercise such as walking for 30 minutes a day if you can do (straight after the incident this might not be possible);
Stretching of the lower back, and piriformis muscles, including stretching of the hamstrings;
Exercises may be undertaken to retrain the muscles to better support the spine through greater strength in the core muscles (the back and abdominal muscles)

Avoid lifting heavy items, and if you do have to lift anything, ensure that you keep your back straight and lift with the legs

Pain Relief Medicines

You can take pain relief medicines if the pain is really bad, but remember that the pain is your body telling you that something is not right, and you should be capable of taking notice of that fact too, otherwise you could make things worse. Medicines such as ibuprofen to take the swelling down and relieve localized pain, also Aspirin can be used to relieve pain. Since medicines do not in any way address the problem, we recommend that you only take them for a short period of time, and attempt other forms of rehabilitation such as exercises and stretching or other forms of therapy.

Chiropractor

A chiropractor may be able to help you to relieve short-term pain, as well as helping you back to heal in such a way, so as the painful episode may not return. A chiropractor does this by re-aligning the spine, so that it moves back toward the s curve that it should be. When the back is in its natural curved form, it can more ably handle loads, can bend and twist more easily in all directions, and should not pinch nerves since ultimately the discs should return to being equally spaced once more. The short term relief will be due to the vertebra being freed up, so that they are no longer stiff, and held in an uncomfortable or nerve trapping location. These corrections will initially not hold for long before another adjustment is required, but over time will last longer and longer, as your back becomes the shape that it should be.

Physical Therapy

Physical Therapy is another therapy that you might consider that can consist of massage, stretches and exercises that will help to make your joints move in the way that they should do. The massage from a physical therapist is highly likely to provide really good relief from the immediate issues, however if the spine is misaligned, the problem will still exist. Some of the therapies offered may also assist with the body healing itself, and so can be very worthwhile in getting you healthy once more.

Surgical Procedures

When Sciatica pain cannot be relieved by the above measures than surgery is recommended, but only when all other options have failed. You should discuss the options for surgery with your medical practitioner. Note that there are other therapies available which may assist with recovery before surgery is considered but there are more likely to offer temporary relieve of severe problems rather than being a permanent relief. Pain may also be associated with the brain, and therefore it may be that a neurologist can provide a better prognosis than being operated on. These situations are specific to the patient; the problem causing the sciatica may be due to a bigger problem with the spine, which will have its own particular solution.