subject: Sciatic Nerve Pain: Avoiding Surgery Through Various Alternative Treatments [print this page] Sciatic Nerve Pain: Avoiding Surgery Through Various Alternative Treatments
Sciatic nerve pain can attack anytime and without any warning. Sciatica pain is excruciating and can disrupt everyday living. The pain is mainly caused by the constant pressure or the compressing of the sciatic nerve. For extreme sciatic nerve pain or pain that cannot be relieved by any other medications or exercises can sometimes lead to surgery. There are other patients, however, that react to certain treatments without having to undergo surgery at all. Basically, sciatic nerve pain is treated using an anti-inflammatory medicine. These kinds of medicine are over the counter medicines or can be bought with a prescription. They not only help relieve pain but also relieve your back from inflammation. When inflammation is reduced, the pressure to the sciatic nerve is reduced as well thereby reducing the pain. If these anti-inflammatory medications do not work, another method is by using muscle relaxants or an analgesic medication. These can only be bought with a prescription. These kinds of medications have codeine as their base and while they are helpful in reducing pain, they share their own side effects which include confusion, drowsiness and lack of coordination. In addition to these, there are also the culprits of an upset stomach and even constipation.Another method in treating sciatic nerve pain is to simply rest. Try limiting your movements to relieve yourself from pain. You can also use ice packs for the swelling to go away. There are some patients who suggest using a heating pad instead of ice packs because the heat, they say, provides for a more soothing relief. However, while heat can be just as effective, it will not reduce the inflammation. Remember, it is the inflammation that is causing all these pain and it should be the one that you should target. Undergoing physical therapy for sciatic nerve pain is also an option without having to undergo surgery. This method can help make surrounding bone and muscle structures strong while at the same time it can help keep you more mobile. There are lots of physical therapy programs for sciatic nerve pain that physicians recommend and are also made in an out patient setting. You can even request that the physical therapy sessions be done within the confines of your own home. There are lots of different ways on how to treat sciatic nerve pain. These treatment options are in the alternative because they are resorted to most of the time when one method does not work on one patient, you move on to try the next. Surgery is always the last resort in treating sciatic nerve pain. Specialists will be able to recommend the best for you. They can also help create customized treatment plans that will be able to target individual pain without having to go through surgery.
