Sciatic Nerve Pain Treatment

Sciatica is the inflammation of the sciatic nerve, usually marked by pain and tenderness along the course of the nerve on through to the leg and thigh. Treatments to sciatic nerve pain are pretty simple, but they can take some time. The treatments to sciatic nerve pain almost all come down to rest, but there are a few medications you can take to calm the pain. A couple medications used to dismiss the pain are analgesics and muscle relaxants. An analgesic is a remedy that relieves or allays pain, and a muscle relaxant is a drug that reduces muscle contractility by blocking the transmission of nerve impulses or by decreasing the excitability of the motor end plate or by other actions. Even though medications will relieve the pain, try and stay away from them because of the side effects. Since pain from the sciatic nerve can be set off by the simplest movements, such as; standing up, sitting, walking, or even laying down, you need to keep rested with as little movement as possible. If the pain is unbearable try taking a nice warm bath, but make sure not use a heating pad on the affected sciatic nerve, this could draw the inflammation in, keeping the swelling high. If the swelling is high try icing it down for about one hour on and off, taking breaks every twenty minutes or so. Massage therapy from a chiropractor can be very helpful, making it a little easier to move around and rest without the pain. There are many alternative treatments, a few suggestions are acupressure and acupuncture, herbal therapies, homeopathy, and biofeedback. An acupressure is a type of massage in which finger pressure on the specific bodily sites described in acupuncture therapy is used to promote healing, alleviate fatigue, etc. An acupuncture is a Chinese medical practice or procedure that treats illness at specified sites of the body. Herbal therapies are individual herbs or mixtures of herbs that are used for therapeutic value. Homeopathy is the method of treating disease by drugs, given in minute doses, that would produce in a healthy person symptoms similar to those of the disease. Lastly, biofeedback is a method of learning to control one's bodily functions by monitoring one's own brain waves, blood pressure, degree of muscle tension, etc. Surgery should be last on your list to treat sciatic nerve pain as it has been known to cause even more damage in many cases. Also surgery for this, usually only cures a small amount of people out of all the people with this problem. Try finding a treatment that works best for you and stick with it, also stretching and exercising can only help.