What is sciatica, and what can help with the pain ?
Sciatica is a term that describes symptoms of pain, numbness, and/or weakness that radiate along the sciatic nerve from the lower back to the buttocks and leg. The medical term for sciatica is lumbar radiculopathy. … Sciatica symptoms are typically felt on only one side of the body.
Web MD describes that it usually starts with a herniated disk in your lumbar (lower) spine. Your vertebrae (the bones that make up your spine) are separated and cushioned by flat, flexible, round disks of connective tissue. When a disk gets worn down — either because of an injury or just years of use — its soft centre can begin to push out from the hard outer ring.
When a disk herniates, it might put pressure on the nerves around it. This can cause a lot of pain when that happens to be the sciatic nerve.
The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body. It starts in your lower back and splits to run through your hips, buttocks, legs, and feet on both sides. Bone spurs and spinal stenosis (narrowing) can also put pressure on the sciatic nerve in the lower back. When that happens, it can cause a lot of problems all the way down the nerve.
The most distinctive sign of sciatica is pain that radiates from your lower back into the back or side or your legs. It can range from a mild ache to sharp, severe pain. You can also get numbness, tingling, and weakness in your leg or foot.
Healthline describe what you should do next when you have sciatica. Sciatica is a symptom that varies from one person to another and depends on the condition that’s causing it. To diagnose sciatica, your doctor will first want to get your full medical history.
This includes whether you have had any recent injuries, where you feel the pain, and how the pain feels. They’ll want to know what makes it better, what makes it worse, and how and when it started.
The next step is a physical exam that’ll include testing your muscle strength and reflexes. Your doctor might also ask you to do some stretching and moving exercises to determine which activities cause more pain.
The next round of diagnosis is for people who have dealt with sciatica for longer than a month or have a major illness, such as cancer.
Nerve tests will allow your doctor to examine how nerve impulses are being conducted by your sciatic nerve and learn if there are any abnormalities. These tests may help locate the area involved and the degree to which the impulse is being slowed.
Imaging tests will allow your doctor to get a look at your spine, which will help them determine the cause of your sciatica.
The most common imaging tests used to diagnose sciatica and find its cause are spinal X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans. Normal X-rays will not be able to provide a view of sciatic nerve damage. An MRI uses magnets and radio waves to create detailed images of your back. A CT scan uses radiation to create detailed images of your body.
Your doctor may order a CT myelogram. For this test, they’ll inject a special dye into your spine to help produce clearer pictures of your spinal cord and nerves.
The NHS has a list of do and dont’s while waiting for treatment for the pain. DO carry on with your normal activities as much as possible, take regular back stretches, start gentle exercise as soon as you can – anything that gets you moving can help, hold heat packs to the painful areas – you can buy these from pharmacies and ask your pharmacist about painkillers that can help – paracetamol on its own is unlikely to relieve your pain.
DON’T sit or lie down for long periods – even if moving hurts, it’s not harmful and can help you get better faster and do not use hot water bottles to ease the pain – you could scald yourself if your skin is numb.
But what you CAN do is to buy a Sciatic Pain Relief Cushion. The Sciatic Pain Relief Cushion is a class 1 medical device designed to alleviate the pressure on the sciatic nerve while sitting allowing the nerve space and time to heal. By placing the cushion on your seat every time you sit you are able to stretch your sciatic nerve whilst reducing the increased pressure the nerve experiences during sitting. This cushion is specifically designed for people who have sciatica pain symptoms that are aggravated or exacerbated while sitting or seated. It is easy to use, safe and specifically designed for sciatica pain relief.
When you have sciatica the sciatic nerve is hypersensitive to any stimulation. Small amounts of stimulation can cause excessive pain. One of the keys to recovering from sciatica pain is to calm the nerve from over stimulation. Nerves are highly sensitive to the mechanical stimulus of stretch and pressure – both of these stimulae occur when you sit, which is why sitting often is uncomfortable if you have sciatica. Appropriate stretching can be beneficial for sciatica, but stretching while the nerve is under pressure can be painful. The Sciatic Pain Relief Cushion allows gentle stretching of the sciatic nerve while sitting without the pressure on the sciatic nerve.
The Sciatic Pain Relief Cushion is simple to use. Safe and easy to apply regularly to give sciatica pain relief. When sciatica strikes the simplest things in life can be the hardest things to do. Things like:
Sitting down to enjoy a meal
Working in the office
Driving, commuting and travelling to work
In all these situations sitting can be made more comfortable when you are suffering with sciatic pain when you use the Sciatic Pain Relief Cushion. Any help that assists in speeding up recovery is a welcome relief. You can head to the Sciatic Pain Relief Cushion website and sign up for their newsletter, look at testimonials about the cushion and read tips on exercising and lots more.
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