What is Sciatica?
Sciatica is a nerve pain that starts in your lumbar area, or lower back region. It's a painful, tingling sensation that runs all the way down your legs and to your feet. The sciatic nerve is formed by the nerve roots coming out of the spinal cord into the lower back.
How do I develop Sciatica?
In most cases, it all comes down to the spine. The spine plays a major part in the causes of Sciatica. You may develop Sciatica if you have a herniated disk or a ruptured disk. Other causes are bone spurs or spinal stenosis. You may also have a pinched nerve which could have started from an injury.
That's a run down of the scientific information. Now, I want to talk about my experience with Sciatica and ways I am handling it that truly help. My hopes are that anyone out there reading this battling with the same awful pain or know someone battling with it can take my experience and treat themselves quicker!
How it happened...
I have always battled with lower back pain and I am not going to lie, its most likely due to my posture. I have been a server and bartender for many years and standing all day and carrying heavy trays definitely didn't help. Now, I have an office job and I constantly find myself hunched over at the desk. Every couple of hours I do get uncomfortable and catch myself slouching and I will readjust but, unfortunately, its not enough to cure the damage I have done already.
Self Treatment Techniques:
After going through the most excruciating pain in my life, I decided to take matters into my own hands since I didn't have insurance and therefore couldn't seek medical attention. I Googled everything and tried anything! Here are some of the things that actually worked!
*Fill a bathtub with 2 cups of Apple Cider Vinegar and hot water (as hot as you can stand). Soak for 45 mins. Be sure to drink plenty of water before and after to stay hydrated! This is thought to reduce the inflammation and release toxins. After trying this I felt immediate relief!
*Take Advil. This might seem like a no-brainer but, just in case you didn't think that an Advil would be strong enough for the pain, you now have walking, talking evidence that it works very efficiently!
*Alternate hot and cold packs. Put a heating pad on for about 15 mins and then alternate to an ice pack for another 15 mins. Keep doing this until your satisfied. While I have heard that this doesnt actually fix anything, its allowing you to focus on the hot/cold sensation rather than the pain.
*Stretch! This one is so major. You most likely will not want to stretch while in pain but as soon and you get some relief, take the time to really focus on stretching. Keep good posture and focus on sitting and standing up straight. This will help in the long run so that hopefully you wont have Sciatic pain later on!
I asked my boss if she could look into getting me a lumbar support cushion and thankfully she got me one the next day, and it really does help! So thats my first suggestion, even if you dont have an office sit down type of job, you should still consider getting a lumbar support cushion for areas you sit in a lot such as your car. After all, the pain starts in your lumbar area!
I know that the pain is extreme but try out these techniques and hopefully your body will get some relief and you can then take action to slowly repairing your nerves and spinal area. If you arent experiencing any Sciatic pain right now, great! But be sure to keep stretching and watching your posture so that we can keep it that way.
Cheers to a pain free life!
Until next time...
Some of the scientfic info was found on WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/back-pain/tc/sciatica-topic-overview