Can You Relieve Sciatic Nerve Pain

Have you had to deal with that sharp and shooting pain that comes from a pinched sciatic nerve? Then, you need to find ways to relieve sciatic nerve pain and something that will work quickly. Once that pain hits, you are unable to do much of anything and are, for a moment, disabled. You might be caught there feeling frozen and unable to move. There are things that you can do to help stop that pain from being so severe.

The sciatic nerve starts at the base of your skull and runs all the way down your spine and down to your feet. It is the longest nerve in the body. There are times when that nerve has pressure put on it or somehow gets irritated that causes it to throb with pain or bring about a tingling sensation. Sometimes that pressure can be quite hard on the sciatic nerve and can bring that pain that overwhelms you. There are several things that can cause it and some of them can be very serious. If the pain has been going on for very long, it would be a good idea to have a doctor check it out.

Take some kind of anti-inflammatory medicine daily to help reduce the inflammation. If this is taken with regularity it can sometimes be enough to control the pain and keep it from coming back strong. Your doctor may have to prescribe something kind of strong if the pain persists.

If the pain is severe and lasts longer than a day then try lying on your back on the floor or a firm mattress, placing a small pillow under your knees. This will take a lot of the pressure off the sciatic nerve and may give the inflamed area a chance to heal. For years this has been the most prescribed treatment for sciatica, but it hasn't been proven to be any more effective at shortening the duration of the pain than anything else. It just helps in dealing with the pain a little.

Use heat or cold therapy. It depends on the person as to which will work better. Try one and see if it works. If it doesn't work then try the other.

When you go to sit in a chair, don't choose one that is very soft. Look for firm couches and chairs that encourage proper posture.

Try stretching because in some cases doing some stretches might bring about the relief of pressure off the sciatic nerve.

Visiting your chiropractor might also help as an adjustment might put whatever is pressing on the sciatic nerve back in place.

The main thing that you need to do, however, is find out what the underlying cause is. Visit your doctor and have him find out. If you can find that out then you are going to be able to treat the real problem instead of having to just try to manage the pain. It might take surgery in some cases. Until the problem goes away or is solved, you might just have to wait it out.

There is no easy answer to dealing with sciatic nerve pain. Hopefully there will be something that you can do to help lessen it and control the amount of pain that you go through until the issue can be resolved.