Sciatic Nerve Pain Relief
Sciatica is a collection of symptoms featuring pain in the lower back, buttocks, and/or one leg or foot. The pain of sciatica can be severe, but the condition can also cause a pins and needles feeling, or numbness, or muscular weakness. Generally, sciatic affects only one side of the body.Sciatica can have many different causes:
1. Herniated Disk
The disks of the spine are good at protecting the spinal nerve inside from up and down forces, but not as good at protecting the spinal nerve from side to side forces. This is the reason sciatica is so often set off when a person bends to one side at a bad angle to pick something up. Jumping off a ladder, on the other hand, probably will not cause sciatica.When a disk becomes herniated, the liquid inside bulges and pulls through the fibers holding it in place. This leaking liquid causes inflammation and swelling of the tissues surrounding the disk, and put even more pressure on the nerve inside. Other kinds of trauma to the spine, such as a car crash, also can lead to sciatica.
2. Spinal Stenosis
Stenosis, or narrowing, of the spinal canal can put unusual pressure on the sciatic nerve. A common cause of stenosis is bone spurs, a painful condition in which inflamed tissue becomes calcified.3. Heavy Wallet Syndrome
The back pockets in a pair of pants cover the pitiformis muscle, the muscle that gives the buttocks their rounded shape. When the sciatic nerve leaves the spine and runs through the pitiformis muscle rather than under it, anything that presses against the pitiformis muscle, such as a heavy wallet, may cause sciatica pain.4. Trigger Points
Certain points on the lower back, buttocks, and legs press against the sciatic nerve and cause pain.5. Pregnancy
The expansion of the uterus presses against the sciatic nerve and can cause the symptoms of sciatica.6. Bad Habits
Wearing heavy tool belts, or sitting on the feet, can compress the sciatic nerve and cause pain, numbness, tingling, or loss of muscle control.How do you get relief of sciatic pain?
Here are just a few of the most common methods. Some work, and some don't.- Aspirin and other over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) usually have no effect on acute sciatic pain.
- Acupuncture is more effective when combined with nutritional supplementation with 1,000 mg of DL-phenylalanine daily.
- Weight loss reduces pressure on the sciatic nerve.
- Surgery and non-surgical methods usually have the same degree of success.
- Ultrasound offers a drug-free approach to pain relief that you can use at home on your own schedule.
