Natural Treatment for Sciatica

Treatment for Sciatica

Treatment for sciatica in western medicine is palliative. The goal of treatment for sciatica is to decrease your pain and increase your mobility. Depending on the cause, in many cases, sciatica goes away. But if it doesn’t, below are some of the most common and effective treatments for sciatica

Medications for Sciatica

Muscle relaxants, such as cyclobenzaprine are a medication for sciatica that helps relieve the discomfort associated with muscle spasms.

Other medications for sciatica include tricyclic antidepressants and anti-seizure medications. However, depending on your level of pain, prescription pain medicines might be used early in your treatment plan.

Physical Therapy for Sciatica

Physical therapy for sciatica is another effective treatment for sciatica. The goal of physical therapy for sciatica is to find exercise movements that decrease sciatica by reducing pressure on the nerve. An exercise program should include stretching exercises to improve muscle flexibility and aerobic exercises (such as walking, swimming, water aerobics).

Your healthcare provider can refer you to a physical therapist who’ll work with you to customize your own stretching and aerobic exercise program and recommend other exercises to strengthen the muscles of your back, abdomen, and legs.

Spinal Injections

This is another type of treatment for sciatica. An injection of a corticosteroid, an anti-inflammatory medicine, into the lower back might help reduce the pain and swelling around the affected nerve roots. Injections provide short-time (typically up to three months) pain relief and are given under local anesthesia as an outpatient treatment.

You may feel some pressure and burning or stinging sensation as the injection is being given. Ask your healthcare provider about how many injections you might be able to receive and the risks of injections.

Surgery for Sciatica

Surgery for sciatica is a treatment for sciatica that is usually not recommended unless you have not improved with other treatment methods such as stretching and medication. Also if your pain is worsening, you have severe weakness in the muscles in your lower extremities or you have lost bladder or bowel control.

How soon surgery would be considered depends on the cause of your sciatica. Surgery is typically considered within a year of ongoing symptoms. Surgery for sciatica is also considered if the pain is severe and is preventing you from standing. The goal of surgery for sciatica is to remove the pressure on the nerves that are being pinched and to make sure the spine is stable.

Surgery for sciatica techniques may include:

• Microdiscectomy: This is a minimally invasive procedure used to remove fragments of a herniated disk that are pressing on a nerve.
• Laminectomy: In this procedure, the lamina (part of the vertebral bone; the roof of the spinal canal) that is causing pressure on the sciatic nerve is removed.

What is Sciatica?

Sciatica is the name given to pain caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve. Anything that irritates this nerve can cause pain, ranging from mild to severe. Sciatica is usually caused by a compressed nerve in the lower spine.

Often, the term “sciatica” is confused with general back pain. However, sciatica is not just limited to the back. The sciatic nerve is the longest and widest nerve in the human body. It runs from the lower back, through the buttocks, and down the legs, ending just below the knee.

This nerve controls several muscles in the lower legs and supplies sensation to the skin of the foot and the majority of the lower leg. Sciatica is not a condition, but rather a symptom of another problem involving the sciatic nerve. Some experts estimate that up to 40 percent of people will experience sciatica at least once in their life.

If you have “sciatica,” you experience mild to severe pain anywhere along the path of the sciatic nerve – that is, anywhere from the lower back, through the hips, buttocks, and/or down your legs. It can also cause muscle weakness in your leg and foot, numbness in your leg, and an unpleasant tingling pins-and-needles sensation in your leg, foot, and toes.

What Does Sciatica Pain Feel Like?

People describe sciatica pain in different ways, depending on its cause. Some people describe the pain as sharp, shooting, or jolts of pain. Others describe this pain as “burning,” “electric” or “stabbing.”

The pain may be constant or may come and go. Also, the pain is usually more severe in your leg compared to your lower back. The pain may feel worse if you sit or stand for long periods of time, when you stand up and when your twist your upper body. A forced and sudden body movement, like a cough or sneeze, can also make the pain worse.

Symptoms of Sciatica

The main symptom of sciatica is a shooting pain anywhere along the sciatic nerve; from the lower back, through the buttock, and down the back of either leg.

Other common symptoms of sciatica include:

• Numbness in the leg along the nerve
• Tingling sensation (pins and needles) in the feet and toes
• Pins and needles” feeling in your legs, toes or feet.
• Loss of bowel and bladder control (due to cauda equina).
• This pain can range in severity and may be aggravated by sitting for long periods.

What Causes Sciatica?

While sciatica is most commonly a result of a lumbar disc herniation directly pressing on the nerve, any cause of irritation or inflammation of the sciatic nerve can produce the symptoms of sciatica. This irritation of nerves as a result of an abnormal intervertebral disc is referred to as radiculopathy.

Aside from a pinched nerve from a disc, other causes of sciatica include

• Irritation of the nerve from adjacent bone, tumors, muscle, internal bleeding, infections in or around the lumbar spine, spondylolisthesis, injury, spinal stenosis, cauda equina syndrome, osteophyte, and other causes.
• Sometimes sciatica can occur because of irritation of the sciatic nerve during pregnancy.

Sciatical can also be caused by several medical conditions including:

• A herniated or slipped disk that causes pressure on a nerve root. This is the most common cause of sciatica. About 1% to 5% of all people in the U.S. will have a slipped disk at one point in their lives. Pressure from vertebrae can cause the gel-like center of a disk to bulge (herniate) through a weakness in its outer wall. When a herniated disk happens to vertebrae in your lower back, it can press on the sciatic nerve.
• Spondylolisthesis is a slippage of one vertebra so that it is out of line with the one above it, narrowing the opening through which the nerve exits. The extended spinal bone can pinch the sciatic nerve.
• Bone spurs (jagged edges of bone) can form in aging spines and compress lower back nerves.
• Trauma injury to the lumbar spine or sciatic nerve.
• Tumors in the lumbar spinal canal compress the sciatic nerve.
• Piriformis syndrome is a condition that develops when the piriformis muscle, a small muscle that lies deep in the buttocks, becomes tight or spasms. This can put pressure on and irritate the sciatic nerve. Piriformis syndrome is an uncommon neuromuscular disorder.
• Cauda equina syndrome is a rare but serious condition that affects the bundle of nerves at the end of the spinal cord called the cauda equina. This syndrome causes pain down the leg, numbness around the anus, and loss of bowel and bladder control.

Natural Treatment for Sciatica

Natural treatment for sciatica can be very effective and of course, if done correctly will cause no side effects compared to medications. The goals of natural treatment for sciatica include both reliefs of sciatica pain and prevention of future sciatica symptoms.

Below, the most common approaches to natural treatment for sciatica are listed:

Home Treatment for Sciatica – The First Form of Natural Treatment for Sciatica Commonly Used By Patients

Home treatment for sciatica is one of the effective treatments for sciatica that can be achieved at home. It causes no side effects and is cost-effective. Listed below is a home treatment for sciatica

Exercises for Sciatica

Exercises for sciatica are one of the home treatments for sciatica that can help ease the inflammation that can cause sciatica pain. People can try gentle exercises, such as walking and swimming, as much as the pain allows.

Exercises for sciatica include:

Plank

To perform a plank:

• Lie face down on the floor.
• Keeping the whole trunk and legs in a straight line, lift up onto the forearms and toes, making sure to keep the elbows directly underneath the shoulders.
• Hold for as long as possible.

Knee-to-chest stretch

To perform a knee-to-chest stretch:

• Lie on the back with a small cushion under the head, the knees bent, and the feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
• Bend one knee up toward the chest and hold it with both hands.
• Hold for 20–30 seconds.
• Swap sides.
• Repeat twice on each side.

Sciatic nerve mobilization

To perform a sciatic nerve mobilization:

• Lie on the back with a small cushion under the head, the knees bent, and the feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
• Bend one knee toward the chest and hold the back of the knee with both hands.
• Slowly straighten the leg up. Stop at the point of sciatic nerve pain. Going beyond this point could worsen the pain.
• Hold for 5–10 seconds.
• Swap sides.
• Repeat 10–20 times on each side.

Yoga for Sciatica – Ancient Indian Exercise-Based Natural Treatment for Sciatica

Yoga for sciatica is another home treatment for sciatica that is useful in improving symptoms of sciatica. Yoga for sciatica helps reduce chronic lower back pain, improve limitations of activities, and reduce the use of pain medications. Below are yoga for sciatica you can try at home

Child’s Pose (Balasana)

Child’s Pose is a wonderful way to tune into and relax your body. It lengthens and stretches your spine, promoting flexibility and openness in your hips, thighs, and lower back.

For more support, place a cushion or bolster under your thighs, chest, and forehead.

• Start on your hands and knees. Bring your knees together and sink your hips back onto your heels.
• Extend your arms in front of you or allow them to rest alongside your body.
• Allow your torso to relax completely as you fall heavy into your thighs.
• Focus on deepening your breath to relax any areas of tightness or sensation.
• Hold this pose for up to 5 minutes.

Downward-Facing Dog

This forward bend helps bring your body into alignment, relieving pain and tightness. Downward-Facing Dog promotes strength in your entire body while helping to correct imbalances.

• Start on your hands and knees. Press into your hands as you lift your hips toward the ceiling.
• Drop your head down to bring your ears in line with your upper arms or your chin all the way in toward your chest.
• Bend your knees to tilt your pelvis slightly forward.
• Intuitively move your body through any variations that feel appropriate.
• Hold this pose for up to 1 minute.

Other Home Treatments for Sciatica Include and Lifestyle Requirements are:

• Applying ice or warmth to the areas that hurt
• Stretching your hips and legs, particularly your hamstrings, the muscles on the backs of your thighs
• Avoiding sitting for long periods

Massage for Sciatica – One of the Most Common Forms of Natural Treatment for Sciatica

Massage for sciatica is a natural treatment for sciatica that is effective in relieving the pain caused by sciatica. A study even found that deep tissue massage may be as effective as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for relieving low back pain, which can be a symptom of sciatica.

Massage for sciatica’s main benefit is soothing tense muscles. When your muscles are tense, they can put more pressure on your nerves, including your sciatic nerve. Massaging these tense muscles may help to reduce pressure on your sciatic nerve.

Soft tissue massage may also help to increase your pain threshold by stimulating the release of endorphins. Endorphins boost pleasure and relieve pain, causing an increased feeling of well-being. They are also released during sex, exercise, and eating.

Acupuncture for Sciatica – An Ancient Chinese Highly Effective Natural Treatment for Sciatica

Acupuncture for sciatica is a natural treatment for sciatica that works by relaxing tight muscles, improving blood circulation, regulating the nervous system, and releasing neurotransmitters to reduce pain.

Acupuncture for sciatica has been shown to be an effective treatment for sciatica without the side effects of prescription pain medications like NSAIDs and muscle relaxers.  It is also a safe, non-surgical treatment option that can relieve sciatica pain.

Homeopathy for Sciatica – An Effective and Safe Natural Treatment for Sciatica

In the treatment of sciatica, homeopathic medicines can be of great help to you. Sciatica medications work by preventing complications and reducing pain. Homeopathy helps to control the pain experienced during acute sciatica illnesses and helps prevent similar episodes from recurring. Helps decrease stiffness and increase joint mobility. Homeopathic medicines for sciatica first help stop the disease from escalating, reducing pain, and thus a non-temporary cure for sciatica.

A great advantage that homeopathic sciatica treatment offers is that once treated the chances of relapse are minimal. Better nutritional diets and other lifestyle changes can best facilitate sciatica treatment. Homeopathic medicine offers natural, organic, low-dose remedies that can reduce sciatica pain. One of the significant benefits that homeopathy provides in the treatment of sciatica is that it can treat the ailment through irritation of the sciatic nerve or by rectifying the compression.

Natural Treatment for Sciatica in Philadelphia

Homeopathic treatment for sciatica is one of the most effective natural treatments. At the Homeopathic Clinic in Philadelphia, Dr. Tsan applies traditional homeopathic remedies, along with Chinese acupuncture and homeosiniatry and thus the success rate in the clinic is way above the industry’s average.
Contact the Philadelphia Homeopathic Clinic to schedule an appointment for a homeopathic assessment with Dr. Tsan.