Are you experiencing radiating lower back pain that extends to your buttocks and leg, making sitting a hard task? You are probably having a tough time moving from one area to the next because pain limits what you can do. Spring Valley sciatica is a condition that causes pain and discomfort in your lower back and travels down to your leg. Sciatica usually affects one side of the body due to a bone spur, among other causes. Different treatment options have proven effective in treating sciatica, including chiropractic adjustments. Read on to learn about a few treatment options.
Home Remedies
Try self-care tips to help lower your symptoms and prevent them from worsening. You can begin by resting though you should not stay inactive for long as it may worsen your symptoms. Secondly, you can include stretching exercises for your lower back to offer more relief. However, you should avoid bouncing, jerking, and twisting during your stretching activities and try holding the stretch for at least 30 seconds for maximum results. Additionally, you can place a cold pack in the area with pain for up to 20 minutes daily.
Medications
Your doctor may recommend medications to improve the results of your home care practices. You may receive prescriptions for anti-inflammatories, corticosteroids, antidepressants, and opioids to relieve pain and pressure in your lower back. You can use pain relievers, including ibuprofen and Aleve medication, to help with sciatica and follow your doctor’s instructions on the recommended dosage.
Chiropractic Adjustments
You can seek chiropractic care if you have low back pain from sciatica and wish for a less invasive treatment with fewer risks. During chiropractic care, your doctor uses hands and sometimes a small instrument to manipulate your spinal joints to improve motion and body function. You will not need any special preparations before your treatment but will need tests to give a clear outline of your spine. During this care, you will lie in different positions as your doctor attends to the affected areas while applying enough sudden force to your joints. You will likely hear cracking sounds as your doctor’s hands move your joints beyond their usual range of motion. After the procedure, you may experience headaches, pain in the treated areas, and fatigue, which will fade away as time passes. Otherwise, the treatment may offer you the needed relief from sciatica pain.
Massage Therapy
You can go for massage therapy to relieve low back pain from sciatica. Massage therapy soothes your tense muscles, likely pressuring your sciatic nerves and causing pain. Also, a massage will increase your pain threshold by encouraging the release of endorphins to relieve pain. Your doctor can recommend deep tissue massage to relieve tension from your muscles and tissues and neuromuscular massage to release contracted muscles. As a result, you will notice relieved tension, improving your sciatica pain symptoms.
Sciatica defines the pain relating to your sciatic nerves, which run from your lower back down to each leg. Typically, the pain will affect one side of the body and cause symptoms ranging from mild to severe, accompanied by weakness, numbness, and a tingling sensation. Sciatica may make regular activities like walking and standing difficult, thus interfering with your routine activities. Therefore, your treatment options will involve techniques that aim to relieve pain and increase your range of motion. You can have medications, physical therapy, and chiropractic care services to offer you relief from sciatica.