How to Fix Sciatica: Easy and Effective Ways to a Pain-free Life

How to Fix Sciatica: Easy and Effective Ways to a Pain-free Life

Ever experienced a mysterious leg pain? Where the pain pinches on your lower-back then travels all the way down to one or both legs? The leg agony alone with numbness, weakness, and tingling is also known as lumbar radiculopathy or Sciatica.

How to fix Sciatica can be a real pain in the butt. The pain is so discomforting that sitting down on the affected side or arching forward can send chilling pain all the way to your nerves. The Sciatic nerve is, in fact, the longest and thickest rope-like nerve in the body and helps activate several leg muscles.

This nerve courses through the middle of your hip external rotators, like the piriformis muscle in your buttocks. Most of the time this muscle gets overused and herniated disks too are top culprits, so when your hip rotators tighten up or a disk develops a crack in the spinal canal, the nerve is compressed, often excruciating, resulting in Sciatic pain.

Some people feel better after 6 weeks, although that’s weeks of pure agony. Others have it worse enduring longer pain for months. So the question is, how to fix Sciatica? When it comes to treatments, options can be endless but here are some of the easiest and effective ways.

Exercise and Physical Therapy

In a published study, the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that physical therapy works just as well as surgery in certain types of lower back pain. Complications are also rare if any. Dr. Jeffrey N. Katz, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, therefore, recommends trying a “well-designed physical therapy program” first before going the hard way.

“Moving is the opposite to what we all do every time Sciatic pain strikes – we all lie down”

How to fix Sciatica faster depends on how well you can tolerate movement. But exercise is important to flex those muscles and increase blood flow to the nerves. A study completed by the Journal of Physical Therapy Science also claims that this helps remove the chemicals that cause the inflammation.

Being physically active even with Sciatic pain can be a challenge but there are simple exercises and easy stretches that can help to loosen hamstrings, flexors and deep glutes (stronger butt muscle).

You can also improve movements by taking little steps around the house or go walk outdoors for 15 minutes. You can also swim or try water aerobics if walking is too painful for you. Whatever movements you choose, make sure you spend less time lying on your back which just de-conditions your muscles.

Home Pain Remedies: Ice, Heat and Pain Relievers

What is better, Ice it or Heat it? How to fix Sciatica whether by heat or cold doesn’t really matter significantly. Actually, both can’t ease the inflammation since the sciatic nerve is way too deep within the buttock and leg. Both, however, can ease the pain. As counterirritants, they distract the nervous system temporarily by giving your body other sensations other than the pain in that area.

You can also try NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) to ease the debilitating pain like ibuprofen or naproxen, but make sure you always seek the advice of your doctor.

Personalized Massage Therapy

Tom Conroy, a long-term sciatica sufferer strongly advocates massage therapy for Sciatica, after getting relief from massage therapy himself.

After recovering from the pain and qualifying in soft tissue therapy from the Oxford School of Sports Massage, he has launched his own soft tissue therapy business in Suffolk, England.

“There have been points in my life where the pain of Sciatica was stopping so much of life’s enjoyment, preventing career avenues, and leading to a real loss of confidence in myself,” Conroy shared in an article with the East Anglian Times.

“After having surgery for my prolapsed disc in 2010, and seeing the power of soft tissue therapy, I knew that I could help other people transform the way they experience muscular and postural issues.”

Massage therapy for how to fix Sciatic pain has also long been advocated by the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), and for a good reason. A comprehensive research study conducted by the association has shown that massage therapy can effectively decrease pain, disability, and depression associated with lower back pain.

It’s also non-invasive, less risky and more tolerable compared to surgery. However, a simple type of self-massage is not enough to soothe the pain. According to Jeff Smoot, vice president of the American Massage Therapy Association, you need to be in the safe hands of a professional who can perform a massage with trigger-point therapy.

Massage therapy can also do wonders to your body and soul. Lose yourself in tranquility. Forget the hustle and bustle outside and just savor every soothing touch that warms your soul.

How about trying something new to ease the pain? Fix Sciatica safely. Book an appointment online and start living that pain-free life now.