Back Pain Relief: Sciatica

Sciatica is one of the most common back pain complaints there is. Back pain relief can be elusive if the cause is not found and treated. This article is about the primary causes and what you can do to eliminate the problem.

There are two main causes of sciatica. They usually have to happen at the same time for the problem to develop. One is structural, the other has to do with a difference in bodies.

The sciatic nerve is a long nerve that runs from the lower back and down the back of leg. In some people, it moves through a hip flexer that can swell and press on the nerve causing the pain known as sciatica.

This muscle is the piriformis which wraps around near the top of the hip in back. If this muscle swells for some reason, sciatica pain often results. This is the most obvious cause of the pain. However, there are reasons this happens in the first place.

One of the main reasons has to do with a misalignment in the sacrum and the hip joints. In some people, this misalignment itself causes the pressure on the nerve. In others, the misalignment causes the piriformis to become inflamed which causes pressure on the nerve.

This misalignment can be corrected by mechanical means such as a chiropractic adjustment, or by adjusting yourself using Self Adjusting Technique. However, there is often a complication present, the root cause of the misalignment in the first place.

Many chronic misalignments have a root cause that has to do with a weakness in the ligaments and tendons in the area. Most often, this weakness is caused by a systemic weakness that develops from a poor diet, toxic environment, stress or a combination of these three factors.

The body easily deals with these issues if they are short term and don’t happen often, but that is rarely the case in this modern world. The ready availability of processed foods makes right diet difficult for many. Emotional stress is just around the corner pretty much no mater what you do. And, toxins are in the environment from pole to pole, nowhere is completely safe anymore.

These issues are all dealt with in similar ways. Toxins less so than emotional or dietary stress, but still requiring the same intervention by the body. Nutrients are used up as the body works to return to balance from these assaults. Many of the nutrients that are used to keep this balance are the same ones that the ligaments and tendons use to maintain their strength. Keeping systemic balance is more important to immediate survival, so the connective tissue is neglected.

The best way to prevent and cure sciatica is to avoid the stress that causes the problem in the first place. There are short term methods that can help, but cleaning up the diet, avoiding stress — or at least releasing it, and a program of detoxification are the best ways to have back pain relief from sciatica.

Tomorrow I’ll post some yoga stretches that can help with temporary relief from sciatica.

Meet the Author

Kalidasa

Hello and welcome to my blog! There are several reasons I decided to start writing a blog on natural self-healing. The main thing I want to do is to share information on health and healing so that people can take action to heal themselves using natural techniques. I have met so many people who couldn't afford natural health care. They may have had health insurance, but they didn't trust that model. Many people want to know how to be healthy naturally. They want to know what really works and what doesn't. They want to be health conscious and often fail because of poor information, lack of knowledge, bad science and other factors. This blog is intended to help demystify the body and its various functions and to help people understand what is really needed to obtain optimum health. One of the great things about knowledge of the body is that once you know and understand how it works it becomes easy to know what the right things to do for it. And, it is much easier to do the right things when the consequences of the wrong things are fully understood. To do this I will be drawing from the knowledge of many people that I have learned from. I will talk about biochemistry relating that to what is needed to obtain optimum health. There will be information about the physical structure of the body and how to keep that aligned and functioning well. A major part of yoga has to do with health, so information about yogic techniques will be included. Mental and emotional health are important for the health of the body/mind, so articles about these topics will be included. And, there will be an occasional article about me and what I am up to. Hopefully I can relate that back to some health issue as well. The title Self Adjusting Technique comes from my technique for self-adjusting the structural part of the body, that is adjusting the body's various vertebrae and joints. For this blog it will include the idea of how to adjust health issues for yourself and those you care about. With a little knowledge there is a lot people can do to help heal themselves and stay healthy. I want to explain complex information about the body in a way that is easy to understand and useful. The comments section will help in that goal as people can ask for clarification if there is something they don't understand. And maybe we can get some helpful input from people smarter than me that will benefit us all. I hope you find information that can help you with your health issues. Kalidasa

2 comments… add one
  • Cheryl Nov 22, 2009, 8:45 am

    Hi, I had an acupuncture session a few days ago for the first time. The next day I could hardly walk. Pain was lower back and right butt. Today the pain is going down the back of my right leg. My question is, could the acupuncture trigger this? I almost always have pain in my right hip but very tolerable. I am under extreme stress as my son has been going through chemotherapy for almost 2 years, he’ll be done in 5 weeks. With this and many other issues, too much to list. Thanks, Cheryl

  • Kalidasa Nov 22, 2009, 8:09 pm

    Cheryl,

    That’s a very interesting one. I have seen this happen before, but am not sure what might cause it. I have a couple of ideas, but hesitate to put them out until I can research it more.

    My suggestion to you would be to get some herbs to strengthen the adrenals. I am working on a program to offer supplement suggestions to people like you, let me know if you are interested and I’ll see about having you beta test it. In the mean time, you can find some general info here: http://selfadjustingtechnique.com/adrenal-glands/how-to-really-get-the-adrenal-glands-to-heal/

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