Ever faced a nagging low back ache that just won't quit? You could be dealing with sciatica. Sciatica or sciatic nerve pain is not a diagnosis in itself, but is a symptom of a deeper problem. Conditions that trigger sciatica include degenerative discs, spinal stenosis, a herniated disc in the lumbar region or   spondylolisthesis. Whether your sciatica pain is persistent or sporadic, it can make routine tasks difficult to perform. The good news is that there are a number of remedies to ease this pain and improve the health of your spine.

1. Hot and cold therapy: Sciatic pain that extends down to the thighs can be relieved by alternating between a heat pack and an ice pack. Each pack can be applied for about 20 minutes at a stretch every two hours. However, this does not treat the sciatic nerve itself.

2. Pain medications and steroid injections: Over the counter pain medication like ibuprofen or muscle relaxants can help alleviate pain and reduce inflammation. In chronic cases, epidural steroid injections may also be prescribed to address the inflammation and pain. Pain relief provided by medication and steroid injections can last for a few days or a few months depending on the person.

3. Yoga: Sciatica patients looking for long term relief often turn towards alternative forms of treatment like yoga. Yoga helps strengthen muscles, increases flexibility and improves posture. This is more beneficial towards preventing sciatica problems from arising than treating ongoing sciatic pain. When practicing yoga with a sciatica problem, it is very important to understand your body's limitations and not over extend your back muscles.

4. Massage: A massage that treats sciatic pain is very different from the usual massage you may get at a spa. A massage to relieve sciatic pain involves putting pressure on the inflamed part of the back and the piriformis muscle. This is the muscle that sits over the sciatic nerve and triggers sciatic pain. In most cases, 3 to 4 massage sessions at intervals of 7 to 10 days can have effective results on sciatic pain.

5. Physical therapy: Sciatica patients often find the slightest movement extremely painful. While lying in a bad is tempting, it can actually worsen the pain. Exercise increases blood flow to the spine and helps flush out toxins. Going for a walk, light aerobics or swimming are ideal ways for a sciatica patient to exercise.

6. Chiropractic manipulation: This involves realigning the spinal column and is an effective way of treating underlying conditions that trigger sciatic pain. These spinal adjustments should only be performed by licensed chiropractors or osteopathic physicians.

Treatments for Sciatica Pain

The pain in the lower extremity of the body caused by the irritation of the sciatic nerve (the large nerve running down from the lower back of the body to each one of the legs) is referred to as Sciatica. Sciatica is caused by injury, inflammation or compression of the sciatic nerve and causes pain or numbness spreading to leg, buttocks, and hips. In Ayurveda, Sciatica is known by the name of Gradhrasi. It is believed to be aggravated by the imbalance of Vata Dosha.


Causes -

Sciatica can be caused by strenuous physical activity such as heavy weight lifting, or to exposure to extreme cold. Pressure on buttocks due to sitting or lying continuously for long hours, injury due to a fractured pelvis or trauma to thighs also damages the sciatic nerve.


Symptoms -

Pain in the back and the lower extremity of the body is the primary symptom of Sciatica. Also, there is a burning or tingling sensation in the affected area. It can also become numb. One may even find it difficult to walk. In severe cases, it becomes impossible to bend the knee or move the foot.


Treatment Through Ayurveda -

Through Ayurveda, Sciatica can be treated internally and externally by balancing the energies involved in the doshas:

Internal methods of treatment: Yogaraja Guggulu is the herbal pill consisting of Guggulu resin, twenty-five types of herbs and ghee effectively treats all types of pain associated with the nervous system. Dashamula Arishta, an elixir having sixty-three herbs, jaggery, plums, honey, and water has anti-inflammatory properties which help in toning up the affected nerve.

External methods of treatment: Application of Sarshapadi medicinal oil (made up of camphor, mustard oil, and vegetable turpentine as a base) on the affected area helps in relieving pain.

Panchakarma therapies are very effective in the treatment of this condition. They aim to relieve inflammation and release nerve compressions and spasms for strengthening the entire spine and the surrounding tissue. Generally, treatment through the Panchkarma therapies takes four to five weeks depending upon the severity of the condition. Following are some of the processes involved in treatment through Panchakarma:

Kativasti and Elakizi, Naranga Kizhi, Navarakizhi are very important in the treatment of sciatica.

Sarwang Abhyang is the full body massage with medicated warm oils for lubricating and nurturing the body for the pacification of Vayu.

Swedana refers to steaming the body for detoxification.

Vasti refers to the administration of medicated oils and decoction through anal route for treating the vatic disorder that is Sciatica as per Ayurveda. It pacifies dryness and strengthens intestines and is one of the permanent cures for most of the vatic disorders.

Siravedha is the venous puncture or venesection.

Agnikarma is the Cauterisation or burning the affected part.

Raktamokshan is the process for Blood purification.

Take Away-

Sciatica refers to the pain in the lower body due to an irritated sciatic nerve, caused due to nerve compression or trauma or injury. Through Ayurveda, Sciatica can be treated through internal or external methods as well as through Panchakarma therapies.

Sciatica - Panchakarma Therapy To Heal It!

While it may be obvious that no form of pain is welcome, it can be said that pain which is felt on account of being affected by sciatica is especially unwelcome. Taking that into due account, the good news is that physiotherapy can go a long way in helping by improving this sort of pain.

The longest nerve in the whole human body is the sciatic nerve, so it can be expected that when there is trouble with this nerve, the pain would be pretty significant. The leg pain which is caused to a person when this nerve happens to be getting pinched is known as sciatica.

There is a range of treatments when it comes to how something as painful as sciatica is to be solved. Now, while it is true that a solution such as making sure there is an amount of bed rest which is sufficient is very important, to say the very least, it is often the case that the person with sciatica would like his or her recovery to be hastened.

In order to make sure that this is the case, physiotherapy is quite useful. There are various forms of physiotherapy which can be made use of, and the decision as to which sort of physiotherapy a person would be best suited to would obviously be part of the subjective assessment of the person by a practitioner who is well qualified and experienced.

Some of the solutions when it comes to physiotherapy being used in order to treat sciatica are quite innovative, to say the very least. For example, there is physiotherapy instrument mobilisation, which is also known as PIM. What this entails is that a mechanical spring-loaded instrument is used in the process which serves the purpose of mobilising the spinal cord of a person along with his or her peripheral joints.

One form of physiotherapy oriented treatment which is used to address the issue of sciatica is real-time ultrasound physiotherapy. It can be said that this is not close to as cutting edge as physiotherapy instrument mobilisation is but it does serve as a rather dependable and useful way to battle sciatic pain. This form of physiotherapy makes use of ultrasound technology to analyse how the muscles function and then using that as a basis to create a list of physiotherapy exercises to be done by the person who is having sciatica. Rather than medicines, physiotherapy improves sciatica by getting a person to use oneself!

How Can Physiotherapy Help With Sciatica Pain?

Sciatica, which is pain along the huge sciatic nerve that runs through the lower back to the back of each leg, can bring about serious, weakening pain. The term sciatica depicts indications of leg pain along with potential shivering, weakness, or numbness that starts in the lower back and goes through the butt cheek and down the vast sciatic nerve in the back of every leg. However, here are some top ways to get pain relief from sciatica:

1. Chiropractic/manual control
Spinal adjustment and manual control performed by properly trained health experts, for example, chiropractors and osteopathic doctors, are centered around giving better spinal cord alignment. These are intended to address various basic conditions, which can bring about sciatic nerve pain.

2. Acupuncture
This practice is based on the goal of achieving or keeping up the strength through an open stream of energy by certain pathways in the body. Hair-thin needles (which are generally not felt) are embedded into the skin, close to the zone of pain.

3. Subjective behavior therapy
This treatment for taking control and evolving self-defeating behaviors can be useful in overseeing sciatica pain, especially in the short term. Sessions with an advisor might be face-to-face or on the web.

4. Massage treatment
Certain types of back rub treatments have proven to have various advantages for back pain, including expanded blood flow, muscle relaxing, and release of endorphins (the body's regular pain relievers).

5. Strengthening activities
Many activities can strengthen the spinal cord and the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments. The greater part of these back exercises center around the lower back, as well as the (stomach) muscles and gluteus (butt cheek) and hip muscles.

6. Stretching
Stretching is usually prescribed to mitigate sciatic pain. Stretching for sciatica is intended to target muscles that cause pain when they are tight and unyielding. Hamstring stretch is very often an essential part of a sciatica exercise program. As part of everyday exercises, many people do not stretch these muscles, which extend out from the pelvis to the knee in the back of the thigh.

7. Low-impact aerobic activity
Some types of low-impact cardiovascular workout, for example, walking, swimming, or pool therapy, are generally parts of the recovery, as high-impact action increases the exchange of liquids and nutrients to make a better environment for healing.

8. Micro-disectomy
In situations where the sciatica pain is because of a lumbar disk herniation, a microdiscectomy is the most widely recognized surgical approach. It is an open surgery done using magnification techniques. In this surgery, just the bit of the herniated disk that is squeezing the nerve is evacuated. Whatever is left of the plate is left in place.

Top Eight Ways To Get Pain Relief From Sciatica!

The sciatic nerve spreads down the spine till the legs. The pain in this nerve can feel like sparks running down your leg (by and large only each one in turn) or cause pain in the lower back. Anything that puts weight on or aggravates this nerve can cause pain that shoots down the back of one butt cheek or thigh. The amount of pain can increase gradually. Sciatica may feel like a gentle ache, a sharp sensation or extreme uneasiness. Sciatica can bring feelings of shivering, numbness and weakness.

Sitting, standing up, coughing, sneezing, lifting, or straining for a very long time, might aggravate pain. Now and then, individuals experience numbness or shivering in the leg, too. Some of the most regular symptoms of sciatic pain include:

1. Lower back pain
2. Pain in the back or leg when sitting
3. Hip pain
4. Burning sensation in the leg
5. Numbness or trouble moving the leg or foot
6. Continuous pain on one side of the back
7. Shooting pain that makes it hard to stand up properly

The most common causes of sciatic pain include:

1. Lumbar spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal channel in the lower back)
2. Degenerative disk sickness (breakdown of discs, which go about as pads between the vertebrae)
3. Spondylolisthesis (a condition in which one vertebra slips over another)
4. Pregnancy
5. Muscle spasms

Some of the most effective exercises for sciatic pain relief are as follows:

1. Pigeon Pose is a typical yoga posture. It attempts to open the hips. There are various types of this stretch. The first is the leaning back pigeon posture. If you are beginning your treatment, you have to attempt the leaning back posture first.

2. While on the back, raise your right leg up to a right point and hold it with both hands behind the thigh and lock your fingers. Take your left leg and touch your lower leg against the knee. Hold the position for a minute.

3. Sit on the floor with your legs stretched straight before you. At that point twist your right leg, putting your lower right leg on top of the left knee.

Bend forward and incline your abdominal area toward your thigh. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds and after that switch sides.

4. Kneel down on the floor on all fours. Get your right leg and bring it forward so that your lower leg is on the ground. Your right foot has to be ahead your right knee while your right knee stays to one side. Stretch the left leg out the distance behind you on the floor, with the top of the foot on the ground and toes pointing backwards.

5. Lie on your back with your legs facing outward and your feet flexed upward.

Wrap your hands around your knee and delicately pull your right leg over your body toward your left shoulder. Hold it there for 30 seconds and afterward push your knee so your leg comes back to its initial position.

Sciatica Pain and Ways to Deal With It

Gridhrasi is what Sciatica is known as in Ayurveda. It is the disorder that causes mild to agonizing pain in the sciatic nerve or neuralgia. These nerves, emerging from the pelvis, run along the hamstring and may cause intense pain in one or both the legs when a person suffers from Sciatica. Sciatic pains fill your life with misery as the simplest of daily activities cause sudden and excruciating pain. There are two types of sciatica i.e. true sciatica and pseudo sciatica. Sciatica may be caused due to bulging disc or herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, piriformis syndrome, pregnancy or trauma etc. 

According to Ayurveda, Sciatica is caused due to impairment in Vata i.e. the dosha responsible for the functional ability and movement of the body and also in some cases due to impairment in the Kapha i.e. the dosha that is responsible for body fluids and lubrication. Ayurvedic herbs that improve the symptoms of Sciatica are:

1. Babunah is also known as Bitter Chamomile. Not only is it used to relieve and reduce the pain faced by a sciatica patient, but it is also used for treating problems such as rheumatism due to the advancement of age. Compressed bitter chamomile flowers are prescribed for sciatica.
2. Guggul is also known as Indian Bdellium. Since guggulu is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties, it relaxes the sciatic nerves.
3. Rasna is also known as Vanda Orchid. Intense or agonizing pain due to the sciatic nerve issues can be reduced by this ayurvedic herb due to its anti-inflammatory properties. 
4. Juniper oil is extremely helpful when massaged onto the thigh muscles with firm strokes or pressure. It is used extensively in massage therapy for treating sciatica since the extent of reduction in sciatic nerve pain is tremendous. 
5. Jaiphal is also known as Nutmeg. After being mixed with sesame seeds oil, nutmeg is coarsely powdered and then fried till it turns brown. This is then applied to those areas where the sciatic pain is intense for instant relief.
6. Kumari is also known as Indian Aloe. Properties of Indian Aloe are extremely helpful in treating lower back ailments such as sciatica and lumbago.
7. Shallaki is also known as Boswellia or Frankincense. Containing anti-inflammatory properties, shallaki is applied externally to get relief from sciatic nerve pain. 

Ayurvedic preparations such as yogaraja guggulu, Vataganjakusha, Saindhavadi taila are also very useful in treating Sciatica.

Ayurvedic Treatment of Sciatica

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