Do you think it is you have sciatica pain in your leg? Confused with what is going on with your leg? Are you experiencing a severe leg pain? It is a common thing to hear people complaining about their sciatica pain or worrying if they have sciatica leg pain. So what is sciatica and what can you do for sciatica pain relief. How do you even spell it, is it syatic, sciatic, siactica? Well the answer is it is spelt sciatica and sciatic nerve pain is what lots of patients coming into a chiropractors office often ask if they have sciatica.
It is important before you can achieve sciatica pain relief that you better understand what is sciatica, sciatica symptoms, sciatica diagnosis. I have also looked at what you can do for sciatica treatment and some basic sciatica pain relief exercise tips.
What is Sciatica
Sciatica is not a diagnosis but a symptom of a trapped nerve or pinched nerve.
The nerve that is trapped can be one of five nerve roots from the spine or the whole sciatic nerve along it pathway.
The sciatic nerve is usually trapped becuase of:
- A lumbar disc herniation,
- From osteo-arthritis (spondylosis) in the lumbar spine,
- Muscle spasm with piriformis syndrome or,
- A sacro-iliac joint dysfunction.
Pain that runs down the back of the leg sometimes going below the knee to the calf is typically referred to as sciatica pain. This is because the pain runs down the same pathway that the sciatic nerve supplies in the leg.
So pain in the leg can be sciatica OR not. This is where your chiropractor or doctor would perform orthopaedic and neurological tests to confirm the source of your leg pain.
Symptoms of Sciatica
The major sciatica symptom would be pain. Again, the pain would be in the same path as where the sciatic nerve supplies.
Some other reasons for you to think you may have sciatica would be these sciatica symptoms:
- Pain in the buttock usually only one side
- Pain down the back of your thigh
- Pain in the calf
- Pins and needles in your feet or toes
- Numb feeling in the sole of your foot
- Limp with walking
- Pain in your lower back
How to Confirm Sciatica
A healthcare professional will be able to tell you after thorough questioning and a physical examination, including orthopaedic and neurological testing, whether or not your pain is a true sciatica pain.
It is important as not all leg pain is from the sciatic nerve being trapped. You need an accurate diagnosis.
X-rays of your lower back or leg will not confirm sciatica and are not usually required for unless your chiropractor or doctor feels there is a reason for an x-ray for your pain.
X-rays show what is happening at the bone and not the nerve tissue. A magnetic resonance imaging or MRI scan is also not usually an immediate necessity to diagnosis you with sciatica. This is because MRI scans are usually used when needing a surgical evaluation or worries for delayed sciatica relief or an unusual concern for the cause of pain.
Sciatica Treatment
Remember that sciatica is a symptom not a diagnosis. So only once you have being diagnosed with what is causing your sciatica nerve pain will you find out what sciatica treatment options you have.
It is important to see a health care professional first.
Sciatica treatment can vary according to what again is causing your pain. So speak to your local doctor first before trying any self-treatment sciatica pain relief tips below.
Basic Sciatica Pain Relief
Read this sciatica pain relief section if you are already under the care of a healthcare professional for your sciatica pain and you are still struggling with pain.
Here are some basic sciatica pain relief tips that may help you:
1. Ice - Using a protected soft mouldable cold pack for 20-30min on your lower back along the belt line area can relax the pain and swelling as the nerve exits the spine. Don’t let the cold pack touch your skin directly otherwise you’ll cause freezer burn on your skin. Maybe try a bag of peas wrapped in a tea towel or one of those blue jelly packs that stays soft in the freezer.
2. Diaphragm Breathing - Trying to breath from your ‘stomach’ or diaphragm muscle is better than stressed breathing from your chest. So when you breath IN PUSH you stomach OUT & when you breath OUT PULL your stomach IN.
3. Muscle Co-Contraction - Co-contraction is when you gently tighten your abdominal and buttock muscles together. Before moving like bending or getting up from a seat try gently tightening your abdominal muscle by PULLING IN your BELLY BUTTON. Then try SQUEEZE your buttock muscle TOGETHER. This will try protect you lower back spine from moving with pain.
4. Sleep Positions - Sleep is important to help healing, but is very difficult with leg pain and sciatica. Some of the sciatica sleep positions are FLAT on your back with a pillow under your knees to create a slight bend. Lay on the most comfortable side with pillow or duvet between your knees. Also on your side try moving your knees toward your chest or straighten your legs till comfortable.
5. Lumbar Chair Cushion - The lower back has a natural arch called a lordosis. You can support the lumbar lordosis through cushions or pillows. So support you lower back arch whilst sitting on the sofa, work chair and car seat.
6. Lumbar Belt Support - Using an elasticated belt to support your lower back can help some people, but is not usually recommended in the long-term as it creates a psychological dependence on it.
7. Keep Hydrated - Make sure you are drinking enough daily fluids, like water, because dehydration will lower your healing ability.
8. Pain Killers - Your GP will be able to provide you with these or you can speak to a pharmacist for a basic over the counter pain relief medication for you sciatica. So speak to your GP or pharmacist for pain relief medication.
9. Inversion Traction Therapy - Using a home inversion traction table to traction and relief the pressure on the sciatic nerve may potentially reduce your risk for spinal surgery from 78% to 28%¹. CAUTION must be advised when using inversion therapy on your own and it hasn’t been conclusively shown to create substantial relief from discogenic back pain, but there has been some positive results¹. Speak to your current doctor first before using inversion traction therapy.
10. Avoid Heavy Stretching - Trying to stretch the leg pain out of your leg could be stressing the trapped nerve more. The nerve is like a rope trapped at the spine. Any stretching must be gentle and controlled so not to stress the sciatic nerve further.
Sciatica Relief Conclusion
So these are some basic trapped nerve leg pain and sciatica pain relief tips. These pain relief tips are not exhaustive. However, it might help guide you to getting some leg pain relief and sciatica pain relief, hopefully soon. If anything changes or worries you, speak to your local doctor first.
Further Reading:
- Inversion therapy in patients with pure single level discogenic disease a pilot randomised trial. Manjunath Prasad KS, Gregson BA, Hargreaves G, Byrnes T, Mendelow AD. Regional Neurosciences Centre, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
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