One of the most common forms of lower back pain seen by physicians today is a result of compression of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve runs from the lower back and hips all the way down the legs and into the feet. The pain from nerve compression can originate anywhere along the nerve and normally causes seething pain to radiate down one side of the bottom. For those that suffer from this often chronic condition, they become focused on one thing. A cure of sciatica!
Truth is there are many cures for sciatica, and finding the one that works best for you takes a great deal of understanding and trial and error. The first thing that you must ascertain is where the pain originates from and what may be causing the nerve compression. For many people the nerve compression is due to structural issues with the spine, such as degenerative disc disease. However, for most people (around 80%) – the symptoms of sciatica are caused by misuse, over use, poor muscle strength or improper alignment of the spine, especially during exercise.
3 Simple Cures for Sciatica that Work!
Remember, that when you are looking for a cure, you are looking for something that does much more than just mask the symptoms temporarily. In order to find a cure, you must be committed to altering your lifestyle and routine, and partaking in some new stretches and exercises designed to help heal the nerve compression. Most cures for sciatica are not over night, and require diligence on the part of the patient.
1. Acupuncture and acupressure. This ancient form of health care is based on the assumption that your body is a constant flow of energy. When that energy gets blocked by an injury or illness, pain and illness are the result. Both acupuncture and acupressure utilize pressure points along the body that correspond to nerve endings and organs. When the points are provided with proper amounts of pressure through needles or massage, the flow of energy in the entire body is restored and can begin healing. This works very well for people whose sciatica is caused by structural or muscles problems.
2. Chiropractic Care. Chiropractic care is an entire body wellness modality that believes the spinal column orchestrates everything that occurs in your body. Considering every single nerve in the body originates from somewhere along the spinal column, it makes sense to be checked for misalignment before running down the road of medically invasive procedures. Often, one compressed disc on the spinal column could be causing the inflammation of the sciatic nerve. While most patients feel immediate relief, it often takes several follow up treatments in order to re-align the spine to a position that can be ‘held’ in place by the muscles.
3. Stretching, yoga, centered breath. In the long term, stretching and doing things like yoga several times a week can be one of the most useful cures for sciatica. For one thing, you can perform these exercises from the comfort of your own home. Secondly, learning how to stretch will not only help your sciatic nerve issues, but also will improve your flexibility and increase your resistance to further injury. Stretching and yoga help to not just lengthen the muscles, but also to strengthen them. In more than half of all cases of sciatica, the pain is caused due to poor muscle conditioning around the sciatic nerve that causes the spine to compress it. By stretching and strengthening the muscles, you cannot only release the pinching of the sciatic nerve, but can help prevent it from happening in the future.
Exercise too is an important part of healing from sciatica and should ONLY be done after adequate stretching.