Your health is your most valuable asset - find out how best to protect it. Search through our Health Articles for useful information.
Sciatic Nerve.
Chronic Lower Back Pain.
Severe back pain, that has lasted for a couple of months, or just a constant nagging dull ache or pain in the lower back,often also down your side into one of your legs. This could very well be being caused by inflammation of your 'sciatic nerve.' You need to submit these symptoms to your doctor, of course, for his professional opinion and advice.
Sciatic Nerve Inflammation.
If you've been experiencing pain in these areas then you might have inflammation of the sciatic nerve. By learning just what causes it and how you can treat the problem, will enable you to live as pain free as possible.
Causes of Sciatica.
The Sciatic nerve path begins at the lower base of the back from your lumbar vertebrae and it extendis like a long tendril into down the leg and into the foot. The sciatic nerve, when inflamed, can cause a lot of discomfort. It's part of a bundle of nerves coming from your spine.
Causes of Sciatica, can be injury or age related.
Some elderly people have problems with it because of their aging body's wear on the structure of the spine, and this can be added to by a poor blood supply to their lower spinal area. Younger people can have issues with it resulting from injury or from a fall, or certain types of degenerative vertebral disk disease too.
Sciatica will eventually clear up as time passes.
Your sciatic nerve can be irritated in both ways; it's not necessarily on cause or age. There are different ways to treat it when it's giving you pain and grief. It's comforting to know, however, that most causes of sciatic nerve pain, do actually clear up on their own, with only minor intervention.
Painkillers can help to relieve the tension.
Pain can be controlled in some cases by anti inflammatory over the counter NASIDS like ibuprofen. You might want to try to relieve your pain with aspirin too. Ask your doctor about the best option if it causes you stomach problems. If it is so painful that normal over the counter pills don't handle it, then consult with your doctor about using steroid pills for your sciatic nerve pain. However, the drawback is that steroids cause bone brittleness, and can only be used for short term relief as medication for the sciatic nerve.
Consult the Doctor or Chiropractor.
Only your doctor can tell what the best treatment options are for you. You must consult with him!
Physical therapy is another way to help with pain. The best type of exercise for the pain is gentle stretching and strengthening routines. There was a period in my life when I had a particularly bad sciatica episode when I was instructed to just lay down on a firm matress for three weeks. This I dutifully did and sure enough, things did improve, but I am now informed that this is certainly NOT the advice give nowadays. Doctors now say that gradual and gentle excercise is the best way forward. so try the gentle stretching excercised. But do not overdo it!
You might want to consider using a chiropractor or doctor of osteopath that can give you gentle adjustments for your sciatic nerve pain too. A combination of both, could very well eliminate or at least help you deal with the sciatic nerve, that is limiting your movement and lifestyle.
Disc problems can sometimes be a cause of sciatica.
Finally, if there is damaged by a disc protrusion pressing on the nerve, then surgery might be your only choice. This is usually done as a last resort, and if you need the surgery it will relieve the pressure and inflammation on the sciatic nerve in your back. It takes a while to recover, but if it stops the pain from pounding in your back and legs, and stopping you from enjoying life, then it's a life saver.
-
Remember that Sciatica will 'heal itself eventually so bear this in mind, decisions over this ailment should not be hurried. Try not to let the very painful initial part, of the illness depress you too much, you will prevail. You will get back to health and soon feel a lot better!
|