In our quotidian life, we typically deal every day with pain that affects our comfort. Pain can be steady, throbbing, and aching. One of the most types of pain that may affect us is Sciatica. In this blog, we will briefly recognize the definition, important causes, and the conventional

methods of pain relief for sciatica definition

Signs of sciatica

The main symptom is a shooting pain anywhere along the sciatic nerve; from the lower back, through the buttock, and down the back of either leg. You might feel the discomfort almost anywhere along the nerve pathway, but it's especially likely to follow a path from your low back to your buttock and the back of your thigh and calf. The symptoms of sciatica tend to appear suddenly and can last for days or weeks.

Causes of sciatica

Sciatica Pain Relief can be prevented or at least decreased when you are taking care of yourself correctly.

• herniated disk

  The most common cause of sciatica is a herniated disk. Disks act like cushions between the vertebrae of your spine. The gel-like center of a spinal disc can bulge or rupture through a weak area in the disc wall and compress nerves.

• Spinal stenosis

  is also called lumbar spinal stenosis. It’s characterized by the abnormal narrowing of your lower spinal canal. This narrowing put pressure on your spinal cord and your sciatic nerve roots.

• Tumors within the spine

  may compress the root of the sciatic nerve.

• Osteoarthritis

  Bone spurs (jagged edges of bone) can form in aging spines and compress lower back nerves.

• Piriformis syndrome

  Piriformis syndrome is a rare neuromuscular disorder in which your piriformis muscle involuntarily contracts or tightens, causing sciatica. Your piriformis muscle is the muscle that connects the lower portion of your spine to your thighbones. When it tightens, it can put pressure on your sciatic nerve, leading to sciatica. Piriformis syndrome can worsen if you sit for long periods, fall, or experience a car crash.

Sciatica Pain Relief

There are steps you can take at home to ease the pain of sciatica and some treatment steps to decrease your pain and increase your mobility. Depending on the cause, many cases of sciatica go away over time with some simple self-care treatments.

• Self-care

  • ⦁ Ice and Heat

    A heating pad or ice pack may be especially helpful. Apply the heat or ice for about 20 minutes every two hours. Experiment to see which provides more relief, or try alternating between the two. It’s recommended that you use ice during the first couple of days to reduce swelling. After two or three days, switch to heat. If you continue to have pain, try alternating between ice and heat therapy.

  • Rest

    A short period of bed rest is okay, but more than a couple of days does more harm than good. Because the long period of inactivity will actually make your symptoms worse. 

  • Stretching

    While sciatica is healing, try to remain active. Motion can actually help reduce inflammation and pain.Stretching exercises for your low back can help you feel better and might help relieve nerve root compression. Avoid jerking, bouncing, or twisting during the stretch, and try to hold the stretch for at least 30 seconds. A doctor or physical therapist may recommend that people perform several of these stretches each day:

    • knees to chest

    • cobra or modified cobra

    • seated hip stretch

    • standing hamstring stretch

    • seated spinal twist

    • knee to shoulder

  • Medication

    Physical therapy is often the first line of treatment for sciatica. However, if your symptoms don’t improve, Over-the-counter pain relievers can provide short-term relief from sciatica. your doctor may recommend you take medications. The most common types of drugs prescribed for sciatica pain include:

    • Anti-inflammatory drugs: Anti-inflammatory drugs can reduce inflammation and sciatica symptoms. They can include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and  naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn). They also include COX-2 inhibitors, which stop pain by blocking hormones in the body.

    • muscle relaxants: Muscle relaxers are usually prescribed to treat back pain in conjunction with rest and physical therapy. Common muscle relaxants include Baclofen and Benzodiazepines.

    • narcotics: Narcotics are also called opioid pain relievers. They are only used for pain that is severe and are not helped by other types of painkillers. When used carefully and under a health care provider's direct care, these drugs can be effective at reducing pain.

    • Epidural steroidal injections: In severe cases, a doctor may recommend injecting steroids into the spine area to reduce inflammation. It delivers the medication directly to the area around the sciatic nerve.

    • Tricyclic antidepressants: Tricyclic antidepressants, also known now as cyclic antidepressants or TCAs, were introduced in the late 1950s. They were one of the first antidepressants, and they’re still considered effective for treating depression. These drugs are a good choice for some people whose depression is resistant to other drugs. Although cyclic antidepressants can be effective, some people find their side effects difficult to tolerate. That’s why these drugs are not often used as a first treatment. Tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants affect brain chemicals to ease depression symptoms.

    • Antiseizure medications: are a diverse group of ⦁ l pharmacological agents used in the treatment of epileptic seizures.

    • Selective nerve root blocks This type of injection is administered near the spinal nerve as it exits the intervertebral foramen (bony opening between adjacent vertebrae). The medication reduces inflammation and numbs the pain transmitted by the nerve.

• Surgery

  Surgery is rarely needed unless you have muscle weakness, a proven disc herniation, cauda equina syndrome, or severe pain that has not resolved after a reasonable course of nonsurgical treatment. If your sciatica is due to a herniated disk, and it's still causing severe pain after four to six weeks, surgery may be an option. The surgeon will remove a portion of the herniated disk to relieve the pressure on the sciatic nerve. About 90% of patients get relief from this type of surgery. Other surgical procedures can relieve sciatica caused by spinal stenosis.

Prevention

In general, regular exercise and building a strong core may help prevent sciatica. Additionally, maintaining a good posture while sitting and standing is important, and may make people less likely to develop sciatica than people with poor posture.

It is not always possible to prevent sciatica. Some sources of sciatica may not be preventable, such as degenerative disk disease, sciatica due to pregnancy, or accidental falls. However, some lifestyle modifications can significantly help reduce a person’s risk of experiencing sciatica again taking the following steps can help protect your back and reduce your risk:

• Maintain: good posture Following good posture techniques while you’re sitting, standing, lifting objects and sleeping helps relieve pressure on your lower back. Pain can be an early warning sign that you are not properly aligned. If you start to feel sore or stiff, adjust your posture.

• Don’t smoke: Nicotine reduces the blood supply to bones. It weakens the spine and the vertebral disks, which puts more stress on the spine and discs and causes back and spine problems.

• Maintain a healthy weight: Extra weight and a poor diet are associated with inflammation and pain throughout your body. To lose weight or learn healthier eating habits, look into the Mediterranean diet. The closer you are to your ideal body weight the less strain you put on your spine.

• Exercise Regularly: Exercise includes stretching to keep your joints flexible and exercises to strengthen your core – the muscles of your lower back and abdomen. These muscles work to support your spine. Also, do not sit for long periods.

• Choose physical activities least likely to hurt your back: Consider low-impact activities such as swimming, walking, yoga, or tai chi.

• Keep yourself safe from falls: Wear shoes that fit and keep stairs and walkways free of clutter to reduce your chance of a fall. Make sure rooms are well-lighted and there are grab bars in bathrooms and rails on stairways.

Every person with sciatic pain is different. The type of pain can be different, the intensity of pain is different and the cause of the pain can be different. In some patients, more aggressive treatment may be tried first. However, generally speaking, if a six-week trial of conservative, self-care treatments – like ice, heat, stretching, over-the-counter medicines – has not provided relief, it’s time to return to a healthcare professional and try other treatment options.

The good news about sciatic pain is that it usually goes away on its own with time and some self-care treatments. Most people (80% to 90%) with sciatica get better without surgery, and about half of these recover from an episode fully within six weeks.

References:

Can Sciatica Pain Be Cured Without Surgery? Other Techniques (healthline.com)

Sciatica Pictures: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments (webmd.com)

Sciatica, shooting leg pain | Cincinnati, OH Mayfield Brain ⦁ &⦁ Spine (mayfieldclinic.com)

Sciatica - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic

Sciatica Treatment (spine-health.com)

Sciatica: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention ⦁ &⦁ Pain Relief (clevelandclinic.org)

If you or anyone you know is suffering from pain, call us today on (469) 562 4188 to book an appointment with our expert doctors.