If you have a damaged sciatic nerve and you have been diagnosed with sciatica, it is important that you seek treatment. The condition is very painful and can be life limiting if left untreated, so treatment is vital to your overall quality of life. You should consult with a physician who will discuss your options with you.
Standard Sciatica Nerve Pain Treatment:
This pain is caused by one thing only, and that is irritation to the sciatic nerve itself. You will experience pain from your lower back all the way down the foot. It is a radiating pain that usually goes gradually lower and lower towards the back of the thigh, then the knee, before reaching the foot over time. The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the body and starts in the lumbar spinal cord and extends all the way to the buttock.
Your treatment will generally start by teaching you how to relax. In so doing, any inflammation present on the sciatic nerve will be reduced, which will already lessen the pain. Some people find that they regain full control over the pain in doing so. That said, doctors will often also prescribe a range of medications to you, including analgesics and muscle relaxants, to help people achieve this level of relaxation. If needed, you may even receive some numbing injections around the area of the nerve itself. This is an effective form of treatment for sciatica nerve pain, but one that you may not want to continue for life.
Other Forms of Treatment for Sciatica Nerve Pain:
There are a number of other forms of sciatica nerve pain treatment that you may want to try. They include:
1. Physiotherapy, which is very likely to be offered to you. A physiotherapist will be able to help you relax your nerve. It is important that this is done by a trained therapist, however, as the nerve is very delicate.
2. Yoga, which is often recommended by physicians as part of treatment for sciatica and other sciatic nerve problems. One of the reasons why yoga is so beneficial, is because the effects last for a long time. However, it often takes multiple yoga sessions before you will notice the effects. Hence, a lot of people stop before they start to feel the benefits.
3. Hot and cold treatment helps to provide immediate relief when applied to the affected area. The relief can be significant, but it doesn’t last long. It is important to be careful with heat treatment, however, as some people have found it actually makes the pain worse. Either way, you should not keep a hot or cold pack in position for more than 20 minutes. However, 20 minutes of relaxation, which usually lasts a little longer even after you have removed the packs, can be enough to increase your quality of life.
These are the standard and recognized methods of treatment for sciatic nerve pain. Alternative treatments also exist, and they are becoming more and more recognized. For instance, acupuncture, homeopathy, and acupressure have been to be effective.
