One cause of especially painful and debilitating back pain is sciatica. There are several different forms of the condition, but they all involve pinching, irritation, and/or pressure on either the sciatic nerve itself or the nerves connecting it to the spinal cord. The resulting pain starts in the lower spine and radiates outward through the lower body and down one or both legs.
A sciatica flare-up can happen at any time. For sciatica sufferers, this unpredictability is one of the worst things about the condition: you never know when it will strike. Sciatica can have a serious impact on a person’s quality of life, the pain making ordinary activities difficult or impossible: walking, sitting down, getting up, rolling over in bed, sneezing, coughing — practically everything. An actual cure for sciatica has proven elusive, but surgery or pain medication is sometimes successful or at least can reduce the pain.
There are also some all-natural ways to manage sciatica pain. The most basic of these is to stay active when you aren’t in the throes of a sciatica flare-up: stand up more often and walk around. Getting plenty of sleep is also something that will help, and not only with sciatica: it gives your body a chance to heal and rebuild.
Yoga is another thing to try and like getting enough sleep, it’s also good for your overall well-being. You’ll want to be careful to avoid moves that put a lot of stress on your lower back (bending or folding forward, for instance). If formal yoga practices aren’t for you, try some stretching exercises. They’re very easy and don’t take much time at all. A few other things that can help with sciatica are deep massages, cold compresses to reduce inflammation, and a heating pad or warm bath to stimulate beneficial blood flow. For more details, see the video posted below.
If you have sciatica, have you tried any of these techniques for managing the pain? Tell us all about it in the comments in the comment section below and be sure to like and share!
