subject: Sciatic Nerve Pain [print this page] Sciatica home treatment exercises need not be extremely complex to be useful. Normally, they can be performed successfully at home and can frequently do away with the need for treatment from a health care professional. Regardless of whether used alone or in combination with professional types of care, uncomplicated sciatica exercises and other self-treatment techniques can often be the difference between recovery and persistent pain.
Sciatica is usually created by damage to one or more discs in the lumbar spine. The disks are the soft shock absorbers between the spinal vertebrae. When one or more discs is damaged adequately to stick out into the openings where the nerves that form the sciatic nerve exit the spine, the nerves can become irritated. Inflammation from the protruding disc can also trigger swelling and this swelling may create additional nerve irritation. The resulting nerve irritation produces the pain and other symptoms that travel into the buttock area and or leg that is known as sciatica.
The principal effect of most good sciatica pain self treatment exercises is to "push" the herniated intervertebral disc material away from the inflamed nerves (as may be achieved by means of the McKenzie extension treatment exercises discussed later) and/or alleviate the accumulation of fluid from swelling (which can be accomplished with any gentle aerobic exercise like walking or using an elliptical trainer). This reduction in pressure on the nerve through reduced spinal disc bulging and swelling frequently produces rapid reduction in pain. With frequent use of the exercises over the course of several days, even resistant cases will often get pain relief in the long run and gradual stabilization of the lumbar disc wall will occur to reduce the bulging tendency. As the spinal disc stabilizes, lasting pain relief is the end result.
Among the most popular of the sciatic nerve irritation treatment exercises is the aforementioned McKenzie extension technique, which is very like the "cobra" position in yoga. The idea is that backward extension of the spine gently squeezes the inner gel of the disk forward and away from the nerves that cause sciatic nerve symptoms.
In addition to sciatica symptoms exercises, there are further methods that may be used to manage sciatica. Using ice packs (separated from the skin with a thin layer of cloth to prevent freezing the skin) for 10 to 15 minutes at a time up to every couple of hours will usually relieve inflammation and swelling around nerves much better than even the strongest anti-inflammatory pills. Acupressure and self massage can also be effective in decreasing inflammatory swelling around the spinal nerve roots and produce pain relief. The decrease in inflammatory swelling provided by these added kinds of self-care increase the benefits of the sciatic nerve stretches.
With repeated use of home treatment exercises and extra sciatica pain self-care techniques, high-priced and time-consuming professional treatment, unpleasant side effects from medicine and invasive injections and surgical procedures can more often than not be averted. By becoming educated on what sciatic nerve pain home exercises and other home treatment strategies to use and what not to use, you can assist in your own healing and avoid a recurrence of the sciatica in the long run.
