Sciatica is a very common back pain complaint. The pain can be moderate to very intense. Fortunately, there are some holistic treatments that can really help.
The most common cause of sciatica is the sciatic nerve being squeezed by the piriformis muscle. This can’t happen to everyone because the sciatic nerve does not pass through this muscle on every body. Fortunately though, there are solutions for people that are unlucky enough to have that in their body. Here are three things you can do for sciatic nerve pain.
The first thing to try when sciatica flares up is to ice the area. You can see from the photo where the sciatic nerve is. What the photo doesn’t show is that the piriformis is below the glut, the very large muscle that makes up the main part of the butt. It may take a lot of icing to get to the piriformis, but it can be worth the effort.
When icing any area it is important to not leave the ice pack on for too long. Otherwise you can actually give yourself frostbite. First, use a layer or two of towel between the ice pack and skin. And, only ice the area for about 20 minutes with 20 minutes off. It may take awhile for the cooling effect to reach the piriformis.
The next thing to try is stretching the muscle. This simple stretch can really help. It will mostly stretch the glut, but working with it can give a great stretch to the piriformis area.
Start by lying on your back with your feet on the floor about 18 inches away from your hips. Place your left foot to your right knee. Then, hold your right leg behind the thigh and pull it in toward your face. Your left foot needs to be as close to your knee as possible for the best stretch. It can be higher than in the photo, whatever is most comfortable and effective for you.
You can intensify the stretch by pressing the left knee away from you with your left hand while continuing to hold the right leg with your right hand.
And, you can move the stretch around by moving your right leg to the left. As you take the leg around you may go into a slight twist which can help move the stretch to the outside of the right hip which is where the piriformis attaches. Stretching the muscle from the attachment like this can be very effective for some people. Experiment with moving your legs around until you find the best stretch for your hip.
There are two other stretches for sciatica. That article has one of them and a link to the second. Stretches don’t always work, but when they do they tend to really help.
Another treatment for sciatica is to adjust the sacroiliac joint which is the connection between the sacrum, the big bone at the bottom of the spine. The sacrum will also need to be adjusted because the piriformis attaches to it, so when it’s misaligned it can pull the piriformis causing it to tighten. In fact, the sacrum being out of alignment is one of the main causes of sciatica.
These adjustments are very easy to do on yourself with Self Adjusting Technique. In fact, there are different ways to adjust both these joints making it easy to find the best adjustment technique for you. Get your copy of Self Adjusting Technique today and let your piriformis relax so your sciatica can be relieved even faster.
Let me know how this works for you. There are a couple of other things that can be done for sciatica, I’ll write another article if needed.
Finally, be sure to get your free copy of Back Pain Secrets where you can learn about other back pain issues and their holistic treatment.
