Sciatic Nerve Pain, also known as Sciatica, is very common with most adults experiencing it at least once in their life. The sharp pain that can run from your butt all the way down your leg into your feet can be excruciating, but can be reversed if you take action to resolve it. Please read below to find out the symptoms, what you can do to relieve your sciatic nerve pain, as well as the most effective treatment for sciatica… Symptoms
Sciatic nerve pain (sciatica) is caused when a disc at the base of your spine is put under too much pressure and it irritates a nerve that runs down your leg. Usually this is just one leg, but in extreme cases it could be down both legs. In addition to pain some of the other symptoms include numbness, tingling, and pins and needles sensations.
The pain can be excruciating and is commonly made worse with prolonged sitting and bending forward or raising your legs up (like stretching your hamstrings-Sidenote-don’t do this if you have pain down your leg!).
To put it simply it is a painful and life limiting condition that can get worse the longer you wait to get help after the initial injury or pain was felt.
With sciatica the longer you wait to get the problem resolved the harder it gets and the longer it takes so there is no time like the present to start reducing your pain and get you back to what you want to do.
Treatment
Treatment is varied depending on what is causing the pressure on the nerve. It will likely revolve around getting the joints in the back, pelvis, and hips moving better. Addressing the muscles in the back, hips, and leg(s) loose and working properly is usually involved and sometimes stretching of the tight muscles. Usually some sort of treatment to get the nerve sliding and gliding easier and making it less irritated will be involved as well.
Note-Many times people try to stretch the hamstrings for sciatic pain, but are actually stretching the sciatic nerve which runs right by the hamstrings. This can make the pain and irritation worse and make the symptoms last longer. If you are not sure if this is a good idea it is a good idea to talk with a physical therapist familiar with these types of injuries.
How to Get Sciatic Nerve Pain Relief
- Avoid Sitting for more than 20 min. I know what you are thinking. There is no way I can be that active. I have a desk Job. The good news is you don’t have to avoid sitting very long. If you can get up and walk around your desk for even just 3 seconds every 20 min the reduction of pressure on the nerves is substantial and can have a big difference over the course of a day.
- Get Walking. Walking for up to 30 min can really help. Don’t assume that even more than 30 min is even better, but walking can improve the blood flow to the injured area and promote healing and lessen inflammation and irritation.
- Get Physical Therapy. This is the absolute fastest way to get rid of your pain. We have worked with thousands of sciatic nerve injuries over the years and can figure out exactly what hands on treatments you need. We can release those muscles and joints and get them feeling looser quickly, tell you what things you are currently doing that you should avoid, and give you specific exercises aimed at allowing you to improve your pain and movement to get you back to your goals and what you want to do.
Hopefully this information has helped.
Without knowing precisely what is wrong and causing your pain it can be very difficult if not impossible to fix this by yourself, but once the cause is identified it is as simple as putting in the work to get rid of the pain so you can get back to being active again and doing what you need and love to do.
If you live in Denver, Colorado and want some quick tips to ease your sciatica pain please consider downloading our free Ebook “9 Ways To Ease Sciatica Pain To Help You Live An Active Lifestyle” by clicking the image below.
If you don’t want to wait and want to get active again as soon as possible or even just be able to walk and get through the day without pain or slowly hobbling around then please consider scheduling a free 20 min phone call to see if we can help. Click the button below to schedule your free call and start getting relief today.
