Back pain can be an incredibly painful condition, and sciatic nerve pain is one of the many possible causes of back pain. In fact, many people are affected by sciatica. This is why it is important to be aware of the common ways to stop sciatic nerve pain.

What Is Sciatica?

Sciatica, or sciatic nerve pain, is a very painful condition. Because the sciatic nerve is actually the longest nerve as it starts from the lower back and goes on to the feet, any inflammation to it can be found in a huge part of the body. It impacts your quality of life, as it makes taking part in regular daily activities, including work, almost impossible. When the nerve becomes pinched, for instance, by a degenerative disc, the tissue of the muscles around the nerve become inflamed, this pinches them even further, leading to pain in the back.

Sciatic nerve pain affects many people around the world. This is further reason for everyone to become aware of the common ways to stop sciatic nerve pain. It can quite literally happen to everybody. Considering that some 8 million adults in this country alone suffer from it and are enduring excruciating pain, it really becomes obvious why we all need to get to know the condition.

Common Ways to Stop Sciatic Nerve Pain:

Because sciatica is so common, it is also well-understood. Hence, we now know many things that you can do to relieve the pain. The first is to make sure that you are healthy overall. This means keeping your weight to an acceptable level, losing weight if you need to. Being too heavy usually makes sciatic nerve pain worse, as it puts extra pressure on your back.

You should also engage in stretching activities that strengthen your core muscles. Pilates is a fantastic sport to take part in, because it is low impact and ensures your muscles are strong and supportive. Add to this a healthy diet of fiber, fruits, nuts, vegetables, grains, fish, lean protein, and milk, and you should see quite a significant difference.

If sciatica strikes, you can use hot and cold packs to find relief. Heat packs are usually more effective. You should use them every three hours or so, for a 15 minute period. However, never put heat or ice packs in direct contact with the skin. This can cause significant irritation and even injury.

Some people will tell you that there is nothing you can do about sciatica. That is about as untrue as those who say the only thing that works is bed rest. There are plenty of things you can do if sciatic nerve pain strikes, bed rest not being one of them. But mainly, there are plenty of things that you can do to stop this pain from happening in the first place. Sciatica is always symptomatic of a weakened spinal cord or spinal column, so if you engage in exercises and lifestyle habits that enhance its health, you should also notice a positive impact on how often you have sciatica and how bad the pain is.