Sciatica treatment

The longest and largest nerve in the body is called the sciatic nerve. At the thickest part, where it grows in the lower spine, the nerve can be as big as your thumb. The nerve then rises from the back through the hip, buttock and all the way down the leg where it splits to two branches at the knee. Each leg has a separated sciatic nerve. Sciatica is a syndrome in which there will be pain occurring and radiating along the path of the sciatic nerve. In some serious cases, the patient cannot tolerate the pain and thus can hardly move.

Fig 1. Sciatic nerve

What are the right treatments for sciatica?

 
You do not need to worry too much if you are suffering from sciatica, as in many case, the pain will be eased and healed after a few days or weeks of careful treatment.

Control the pain

 
If it is too painful, you may try some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or aspirin, to reduce the pain. However this is just for short term and to help you keep active.

Stay active and do proper exercises

 
Spending most of the time to rest on the bed is not recommended. You may consult your doctor for an exercise programme to practice your lower back. Exercising regularly the lower back will help to strengthen its supporting muscle and gradually improve the situation. There are many stretching exercises that help to relieve compression in the spine and reduce the pain. You can find a very helpful sery stretching exercises in the video clip below. Please remember to do the exercises slowly and gently.


Stretching exercises for sciatica from sciatica treatment on Vimeo.
Video about stretching exercises for sciatica

Compression heat or ice packs
Numerous patients find that wrapping either a hot or cold compression pack around their lower back helps to ease the pain. You can easily find heat or ice packs off the shelf from any drug store. Alternatively, you can make your own ice pack by wrapping a towel around some pieces of ice.  

Fig 2. Hot or cold packs help to reduce sciatica pain

Massage Therapy

There are several forms of massage therapy that have been proven to be useful for back pain in general and sciatica in particular. Generally, correct massage therapy will help to increase blood circulation, relax the muscle, and release the pain.

Fig 3. Back massage to relieve sciatica pain

Chiropractic Manipulation
 
There are several trained health professionals, for example, chiropractors and physical therapists, who can perform adjustments for spinal, resulting in better spinal column alignment. This procedure, if done properly, should be helpful in solving some underlying conditions that can lead to sciatica. The procedure should not be painful.

If the sciatica pain prolongs for several weeks without improvement, you may want to check with your doctor for further treatments.