Sciatica Relief Begins With Ice Packs
Sciatica pain is caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve, which is the longest nerve in the human body. This meansthat any pressure felt on that sciatic nerve can actually cause anywhere along the length of it, and as the sciatic nerve stretches from the middle of the lower back, right down both legs and into the feet, that is a large nerve, and a big area to feel pain and discomfort.
If you have had the symptoms of sciatic pain before and have been diagnosed by a medical professional, you will know what the pain feels like, and you will know the best way to treat it in the future. The best start you can have for sciatic nerve pain is to begin using a cold compress on the center of lower back at the first signs of sciatic nerve pain. Use this cold compress for ten to 15 minutes every hour or so. This sounds like a lot of cold, and it is, but this will help to keep the swelling down, and as that goes down, the level of pain should too, so it is a sensible thing to do.
Now, there are some who hate using ice packs and will not make the effort to do this. That is their right, but what it will cause is a longer session of sciatic pain and more time spent trying to get back to normal after it.
This is hardly on the relatives of a sciatic pain sufferer, but there is nothing to force someone to use a cold compress if they really don’t want to.
Once the pain level has subsided a little, then it is time to start beginning some gentle exercises. It used to be thought that this was poor decision, and that bed rest was what was needed to stop sciatic pain, but research has shown recently that the back needs to keep moving or else it loses some of its strength quite quickly, and recovery will be much longer. Walking is a good exercise, provided it doesn’t cause leg pain, and to begin with the walking should only be for a few minutes at a time every few hours, on the level, gradually increasing this as the sciatic nerve and your body permits.
Doctors may recommend anti-inflammatories too to help lessen sciatic pain, and only if after many months of pain there is still little improvement, it may be time to see a specialist, and perhaps even consider back surgery to relieve the pressure on the scaitic nerve. Back surgery is risky, since damaging the spinal column can lead to paralysis, but the surgery depends on why there is pressure on the sciatic nerve. It could be due to pregnancy, weight gain, a bony growth, or a herniated disc to mention just a few causes.
So to conclude, begin using a cold compress as soon as you feel any discomfort or pain on your sciatic nerve, and hopefully you will be able to enjoy life again soon.
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Tags: back pain, lower back pain, sciatic nerve pain, sciatic pain, sciatica