10 Ways to Manage Sciatic Pain
Dr. Chad C. Hood, DC discusses 10 Ways To Manage Sciatic Pain.
What is sciatica pain?
Sciatic pain affects the sciatic nerve, a large nerve extending from vertebra in the lower back down the back of each leg.
Sciatic nerve pain can affect one or both legs causing various symptoms. Sciatica can involve burning, tingling, numbness and /or shooting pain. These symptoms can be constant or come and go and may even cause muscular weakness.
If you have sciatica symptoms, then ‘Does it control you?’, or ‘Do you control it?’ The following are 10 ways to Manage sciatic pain:
1. Spinal Check-if your vertebra are not moving well, this contributes to inflammation and nerve irritation. “Stuck Vertebra” can also cause poor posture making underlying problems such as sciatica pain worse.
2. Posture Check-be aware of what good posture should look and feel like-at work, at home in your car, while you exercise, etc. Think often about, “How is my posture?” and straighten up.
3. Stay Active-Exercise does not have to be hours at the gym. Gardening, house-work, taking more frequent breaks from the computer and just ‘keep moving’ will help reduce stress on the nervous system.
4. Stretch-Having a routine for the muscles to stay flexible and decreased in fatigue through out the day. Proper stretching when having sciatica pain can be provided by your Chiropractor.
5. Good Habits-Smoking and poor diet will deplete the body of essential nutrients that decrease the ability to heal and contributes to increased inflammation.
6. Body Weight-A Body Mass Index (BMI) chart can help you identify your ideal BMI. A high fat tissue to lean muscle tissue ratio places more stress on the joints and systems of the body.
7. Ice-Using ice for 15-20 minutes on sore areas will help reduce inflammation and assist the body in healing. Ice on the lower back especially will help the joints and nerves causing the sciatica pain.
8. Be Smart-Maintain balance in the places you spend more time. If you have a poor mattress or pillow, then that will contribute to back and neck problems. If you have poor ergonomics in your work station, things will ‘hurt’ at the end of the day. No support in your car will do the same.
9. Shoes-Proper foot wear to give support based on the type of activities you do is important to minimize the stress in your back and legs. There are so many options to be fashionable and comfortable when it comes to footwear.
10. Strengthen-Work toward a strong, supportive core group of muscle. Proper core exercises help prevent flare-ups of sciatica symptoms.
Proper diagnosis of sciatic conditions can be done by your Chiropractor. Your Chiropractor can examine your spine and review your medical history to determine what is causing the sciatica pain. In addition to these 10 ways to manage sciatic pain, your Tempe Chiropractor can provide necessary tools to maintain your health.
Contact us at Reed Chiropractic today for a free consultation and evaluation.
