If you’ve had sciatica, then you know the pain it can cause in your lower back or legs. It can range from mild, annoying pain to sharp, burning pain, or can become excruciating. Sciatica can often be mistaken for a disc injury, lower back pain, pelvic pain, or hip pain. And knowing how to get rid of sciatica is crucial to getting you feeling healthier and happier. Here are five ways to reduce your sciatica and lower back pain without surgery or pain pills
1. YOGA
Yoga is among the most gentle and effective ways to condition your body and get into overall shape. For sciatica pain doctors and physical therapists often advise their patients to do certain exercises which target the affected area and many people have found relief this way. At the same time however, activities that place a lot of stress on the lower back should be limited and avoided as much as possible, especially bending or folding forward.
At the very least, it’s highly recommended that you start stretching. The accompanying video shows you how to do a one minute stretch routine that helps relieve sciatica pain and speed up healing. It can be done in your spare time, whenever and wherever, and the comments under the video show how it has helped tons of people get back to feeling normal and healthy again. Hopefully it will work for you as well if you suffer from sciatica!
2. HOT & COLD COMPRESS
Alternating between hot and cold treatments for sciatica can greatly relieve the pain. Placing an ice pack on the area helps to reduce inflammation, while a heating pad or warm bath works to stimulate and increase blood flow.
3. MASSAGE
When your back hurts due to sciatic nerve pain it causes your muscles to tense and tighten up. This often exacerbates the pain and inflammation further, which is why a nice, relaxing, deep massage can help to relieve your aching body. Besides loosening your muscles up, a massage also leads to the release of endorphins which make you feel better and help to fight the pain.
4. STAND UP
For the majority of people, spending a lot of time sitting down is normal. We sit while we’re waiting, when we’re traveling or going places, and when we get to where we are going, we sit down again! Not to mention working at a desk and sitting for long stretches of time at work. All that sitting can aggravate an already inflamed lower back even more and make it feel stiff as heck.
You need to get up more often and get moving! This will get your blood flowing again and keep your back from becoming tight and stiff. If you can, work while standing up and look into getting a standing desk. At the very least, get up and move around every once in awhile to avoid sitting for prolonged periods of time.
5. ACCUPUNCTURE
This is a wonderful alternative type of treatment that has worked for many sciatic nerve pain sufferers. Acupuncture may not be for everyone, especially those who hate needles, but it’s known to be effective at targeting and eliminating inflammation which is the root cause of sciatica. Out of all the issues acupuncture is used to treat, sciatica is the the top-most complained of disorder.
Source: sun-gazing.com