Hello, everyone. My name is Natalie, and today Veritas Health is bringing you four steps to instantly relieve sciatica pain. Sciatica is the term used to describe nerve pain caused by compression and/or irritation of the sciatic nerve. Sciatica originates in the low back, travels into the buttock and down the leg.
One of the first things you can do to treat sciatica is the use of cold therapy. Cold can help relieve pain in many different ways. It reduces nerve conductance, it provides blood flow constriction, reducing sensation at the skin. It can help reduce inflammation and swelling, all reducing pain. Cold therapy can often provide instant pain relief and may reduce the need for over-the-counter medications.
Another option you can use for the treatment of sciatica is heat therapy. Heat helps promote the natural tissue healing of your back. Heat can provide increased blood flow, reduce painful muscle spasm, and help improve metabolism and range of motion at that point.
You can also use some postural changes to help reduce sciatica. So when standing, it's important to maintain your feet about hip width apart, have a slight bend in the knees so they are not locked and the thigh muscles stay engaged. You should have a slight curve in your lower back and your head should be maintained balanced over your shoulders.
Walking is an important part of treating sciatica. Having good posture while walking is important. While walking, you should aim to land on your heel and then roll off the foot over your big toe, maintaining equal weight distributed through both legs.
It's important to let your arms swing naturally at your side while you do this to encourage some gentle rotation through your spine. When bending and lifting, it's important to keep good posture when you are bending and lifting. When you bend down, bend at the knees, keeping your back straight. And when you lift an object, hold it close to your body. It's important to keep breathing while you do this to keep the core muscles engaged.
While sitting, it's important to keep good posture by sitting up straight with your feet flat on the floor. You can use a small pillow or towel behind the low back to help support you. Sitting with good posture often takes less effort than sitting with poor posture, and can be really important if you're going to be spending a lot of time sitting.
Another recommendation I give people is when they are sitting for a long time, take breaks about every half hour to give your body a new position. Also while you are sleeping, you can use pillows to help maintain better posture of your back and pelvis. You can put a pillow under your knees if you are lying on your back to maintain reduce pressure of the low back. And if you're lying on your side, you can put a pillow in between your knees to keep the hips in line.
It's important to stay active when you are dealing with sciatica. While bed rest may provide some temporary pain relief, it will not help you in the long term. If any of your symptoms becomes concerning, please consult with your medical provider to get a diagnosis that will help treat the cause of your symptoms. You can learn more about sciatica here at Veritas Health, and please subscribe to our channel for more videos like this. Thank you for watching.
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