Pain Relief Info Guide

Sciatica or sciatic pain is caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve, which is the longest nerve in the human body. What this means isthat 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 each foot, that is a large nerve, and a big area to feel pain and discomfort.

If you have had the symptoms of sciatic nerve pain before and have been diagnosed by a medical professional, you will know what sciatic pain feels like, and you will know how to best treat it in the future. The best start you can have for sciatic nerve pain is to begin using an ice pack on the center of lower back at the first signs of sciatic pain. Use this ice for ten to 15 minutes every hour or so. This sounds like a lot of icing, and it is, but this will help to reduce the swelling, and as that lessnes, the pain level should too, so it is a sensible thing to do.

Of course, there are some who hate using ice packs and will not take the time 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 not fair on the friends and family of a sciatic pain sufferer, but there is nothing to force someone to use a cold compress if they really are set against it.

Once the pain level has subsided a little, it is then time to start beginning some gentle exercises. It used to be thought that this was bad choice, and that bed rest was what was needed to end sciatic pain, but research has shown recently that the back needs to keep its strength by plenty of movement 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 the pain of sciatica, and only if after many months of pain there is no noticeable improvement, it may be time to see a specialist, and perhaps even think about back surgery to relieve the pressure. Back surgery is risky, since damaging the spinal column can lead to paralysis, but the surgery depends on the reason for the pressure on the sciatic nerve. It might be due to weight gain in pregnancy, a boy spur growing into the scaitic nerve, or a herniated disc to mention just a few causes.

So to summarize, begin an ice pack as soon as you feel any discomfort or pain on your sciatic nerve, and hopefully you will be back coping well with life again in the near future.