1. Try using an ice pack, rather than a hot bath
Typically, pressure on the nerves is caused by swelling. Going in a hot bath will temporarily get rid of the pain, but it will end up encouraging more swelling, so you’ll end up reaching for a heat pack/hot water bottle. Try using ice.
We recommend using an ice pack every 2 hours, for 20 minutes. Just make sure you wrap a tea towel or something similar around the ice pack first so you don’t get burned.
2. Try very gentle stretches
When you have sciatica, whilst you may not feel like it, very gentle stretches can help loosen joints and muscles that may have stiffness or spasms respectively. The key to stretching is how long you hold it for, 30 seconds is enough time, and also making sure you don’t push yourself too hard. It can actually cause more damage if you adopt the ‘no pain no gain’ attitude.
3. Try using a TENS Machine rather than using drugs
Unfortunately it doesn’t matter how ‘safe’ a drug is, they always have side effects. In our experience, a great at home remedy is using a TENS machine, as this blocks the pain signal going towards the brain. It is important to remember that pain is an indicator of a problem, so whilst you ay feel like you can go and play with your kids, go for a long walk or change the bedsheets, try to avoid anything that would have caused the pain had you not had the TENS machine on. When you do use a TENS machine, less is more. Pop it on a very low setting, just enough for you to feel it and leave it on for at least ten minutes before you try and do anything. It is the gentle signals that block the pain signals, not how much of the ‘electricity’ you can handle.
Whilst all this may improve some of the symptoms, it is very rare that it can actually fix the cause of the problem
That’s exactly why we have a dedicated sciatica assessment where we can find the exact cause of the problem and fix it.
All you have to do is fill out the form below and we will contact you to perform a thorough examination, take sEMG scan, do a computerised postural analysis and formulate a plan of action to get rid of your pain ASAP.