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Your sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in your body, and this fact is made perfectly clear when it’s being irritated. From localized lower back pain to symptoms that shoot down into your buttock and leg, sciatica is one condition you want to get to the other side of, as quickly as possible.
About 40% of people will develop sciatica at least once in their lives, and many people are repeat victims of this common nerve compression issue.
Whether it’s your first experience with sciatica or you’ve been through it before, the team here at Western Orthopaedics wants to provide you with a few practices that can help alleviate the back pain. As spine experts, we know our way around prevalent back issues like sciatica, and here’s what we’ve found works best.
Any time you have an issue in your spine, it’s always a good idea to have a spine health expert take a look. Even if you’re fairly sure you're dealing with sciatica, we can still confirm your self-diagnosis and start you on the road to pain relief right away.
For example, we can administer a corticosteroid injection around the area of the nerve compression, which typically stems from a herniated disc. This interventional injection provides you with temporary relief. We want you to take advantage of this respite from the pain to further your pain relief efforts with the following strategies.
As we mentioned, sciatica occurs when the nerve is compressed in your lower back, and we want to address that compression through physical therapy (PT). It’s no exaggeration to say that PT is really one of the best steps you can take to alleviate sciatica pain.
Our physical therapists have extensive experience helping our clients to address lower back issues like sciatica. Stretches and strengthening exercises can not only address your current discomfort, but our targeted PT can also do wonders for avoiding more sciatica episodes down the road.
A great way to keep comfortable during a sciatica attack is to switch between hot and cold therapies. First, you can start with some ice, which reduces the inflammation around the nerve and numbs your pain.
When you have sciatica, you can also develop muscle tension that exacerbates your discomfort. So, after about 10-20 minutes with ice, you can apply a heating pad to your lower back to help relax your muscles.
By rotating between hot and cold therapies, you can make a big dent in your pain. You can switch off as many times as you want, but aim for at least three rotations per day during an acute sciatica attack.
If you’d like more suggestions for combating sciatica pain, we’re just a phone call or click away. To get started, contact one of our offices in Arvada or Denver, Colorado, to schedule an appointment.
