It is important to understand just what exactly sciatica pain is although it is often confused with other medical conditions and sometimes even used as an umbrella term for anything else that is not easily diagnosed! Sciatica is a set of symptoms rather than a diagnosis in itself. Sometimes sciatica pain can be confused with other serious medical conditions such as a tumour or infection so a careful diagnosis is always important. This article will outline some basic facts about sciatica and point to sciatica home remedies.
Sciatica is nerve pain arising from the sciatic nerve. It can be produced by pressure on the nerve, where it passes through the buttock. Sciatica can be brought on by sitting on a hard seat. When your leg goes to sleep, that is also a form of sciatica.The sciatica nerve is the largest nerve in the body. It has branches in the thigh muscles, the knee joints, and down into the muscles of the legs and feet. This nerve begins in the lower part of the back and passes down behind the thigh. It is more exposed to injury and inflammation than most other nerves. Sciatica nerve pain is a relatively common form of low back pain and leg pain.
What Causes Sciatica? Basically it is severe acute pain in the lower back or it can be constant back pain radiating from the
lumbar region of the back. The pain is caused by pressure or irritation of one or more nerves exiting the lower spine that make up the sciatic nerve. There are many medical conditions that can cause this, for example, a spinal disc has moved out of its original position and can therefore irritate the nerve root in the lower back which is joined to the sciatic nerve. Pain can be acute- lasting less than a month. Chronic pain will usually last longer than six months- the percentage is between 1-5% of all lower back pain cases.
Pain can be felt along all or part of the course of the sciatic nerve which runs from the lower back, through the buttock into the calf and even into the foot.
Sedentary lifestyle, weak back and stomach muscles are usually causes of sciatica. Obesity will put an enormous strain on the spine and therefore increase pressure on the vertebrae.
People gets frightened when they get sciatica pain, which is due to the fact that most of them do not understand what is actually wrong with them. Some begin to feel that the incident might be crippling; this fear factor adds to their suffering. What they are unaware of is that sciatic nerve pain can be effectively treated. When such pain attacks, it is advised not to use your feet because using your feet will make the nerves more sensitive. Soaking in warm water can relieve the pain somewhat; however heating should be limited to short spells. Some physicians even advice ice packs to be applied directly on the affected area for around twenty minutes. This will help reduce swelling of the area.
Sciatica Pain Relief Home Remedies: Age 32 - Severe Back Problems I had the mistaken notion that I should stop jogging and let my back heal. After the pain was getting to the "shooting pain" level, I finally relented and visited a chiropractor. He diagnosed my problem as a low clearance leading to a pinched nerve (sciatica), adjusted my back, and recommended I start exercising again. Exercise proved to be a key to getting back on my feet - read about the benefits of exercise here. Also, I used a self-adjustment technique that a former paratrooper friend recommended, and the chiropractor approved. Read about this back-adjustment technique here.
Age 42 - Back Problems Becoming Worse Again When one reaches age 40, the body tends to fall apart. Even with my active lifestyle my age was starting to catch up with me as well. After some strenuous work or activity, my back would get to the point where I could only get relief through lots of ibuprofen. Ibuprofen isn't the best thing for ones body - read up on the harmful effects of ibuprofen here. After another trip to the chiropractor (and this was my first visit since age 32), I found relief and also learned some information that proved to be helpful. Through an internet search and validation by my chiropractor I learned that we can somewhat counteract age-loss in our disks by drinking sufficient water. And yes this helped!
Find powerful herbal remedies Home Remedies for Sciatica
Age 47 - Back Problems Flair Up With Strenuous Activities I spent just about every other summer evening playing ball with the kids in our backyard baseball field I made for them. I pitched, fielded, and ran bases like I was 18 years old. Unfortunately, my 47 year old body was not quiet in agreement! Even the self-adjustments, extra water, and keeping in good shape, combined with a good dose of ibuprofen were not enough some nights come fall. But, with the end of the kids baseball, I got back to close to where I was before.
Age 48 - I Found A Nifty Back Decompression Device That Actually Works One night I could not sleep due to a bad head cold. So as I am watching the TV at about 3AM, I see two infomercials: one on a get-rich quick scheme, and one on a back-decompression device called Trueback. The next day I do a search on both products checking out the usual places where scams are reported. The get-rich quick scheme proved to be a scam, but the Trueback device showed no reports of being a scam. So this meant that either the product acually worked as claimed (a rarity in As-Seen-On-TV products!) or they were good about providing refunds if requested. So I gave it a try. The result was no more ibuprofen (even on long car trips!) and I was able maintain a level of high physical activity without the next-day pain and headaches. Read more about back decompression here.
Age 49 Update - Still Doing Well With respect to my back and sciatica, I am doing better than ever. In fact I am now only using my back decompression device once ever month or two, with exception of long car trips. If I must drive over 2 hours, I will take the Trueback along and use between driving. I still get the "driving sciatica", but the difference now is that I can quickly remedy it. Also read about Joint Pain Remedies Joint Pain Relief or read more on babaramdevmedicines.com
