Archive for April, 2009

April 28th 2009

Exercises For Sciatica And Other Natural Remedies

If your leg hurts and it’s difficult to get around, then how are you going to do the things you need to do for the day? How are you going to function when the pain becomes severe?

upper leg painMany difficulties can result from not being able to do what you need because of back and leg pain. There are several reasons why you may experience pain back of leg. It can be caused by muscle strain and stress, or a more serious complication such as a misalignment of the spine or a condition called sciatica. If the pain is really bad, then it is necessary to see someone or find a solution that you can do for yourself, especially if the pain becomes unbearable and you lose functionality.

You can find some recommended sciatica treatments here

Back leg pain can become indescribable. It starts in your lower back and can move through the buttocks. Then it goes down the leg towards the back of the leg. There are many possible causes of back leg pain. It can be caused by a swelling of the sciatic nerve, by the surrounding muscles being tense and pressing on the nerve, by over exertion, by a misalignment in the spine and hips, or by poor posture. This is sciatica, one of the most common back pain complaints.

It is important to act on such pain as soon as you can .

If the pain is sudden and serious it may even be necessary to seek medical attention. However, serious pain is usually treated with pain killers. Natural techniques may be more desirable if you wish to avoid medication, and they tend to be more long term solutions.

Sometimes, chronic sciatica can disappear for a time on its own, while at other times the pain can be unbearable. It can be a sign of something serious like some traumatic damage to the spine, hips or lower back, or it can be nerve damage. If natural techniques don’t help, it may be necessary to see a doctor to eliminate any serious possibilities.

treatment for sciaticaOne natural technique that can help is an adjustment of misaligned bones. Sciatica can be caused by a misalignment of the hips and sacrum. The piriformus muscle is a deep hip muscle that attaches to the sacrum. A misalignment can cause it to become tight which in turn causes pressure on the sciatic nerve that in some people runs through it resulting in pain back of leg.

Another natural technique is exercise. Exercises for sciatica  are usually simple to do stretches and strengthening practices that can give fast and even long term relief.

Learning how to do adjustments on yourself is a new adjustment option that is now available. The sacrum and hips are fairly easy to self adjust once you know the technique which is easy to learn. Self Adjusting Technique is a set of self-adjusting methods that enable you to adjust your own back, hips, neck and ribs without relying on scary forceful adjustments that many people would rather avoid.

And then there is a rather novel and fun way of getting  pain relief through laughter! 

Author: Kalidasa Brown

You can also learn more about back pain, sciatica or back leg pain and more from a free book called "Back Pain Secrets." Click here to get your copy. It comes via instant delivery to your email, and you get follow-up emails that will give you even more back pain treatment information. In fact, you may find all the answers to your back pain issues  by going to http://SelfAdjustingTechnique.com  Be sure to read through the blog too, there is a lot of good back care information to be found there as well.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kalidasa_Brown

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April 20th 2009

Treatment For Sciatica, Causes, Symptoms Of Sciatica

shooting pains in lower legThe sciatic nerve is formed from the lower segments of the spinal cord. Sciatic nerve pain occurs when there is damage to the sciatic nerve.

Try this home remedy for pain

Sciatica can be very frightening especially if you don’t realize what is wrong…

The sciatic nerve is formed from the lower segments of the spinal cord.

Sciatic nerve pain occurs when there is damage to the sciatic nerve. It occurs due to a pinched nerve near a disc at the spinal cord or a bone. The pain runs from the buttocks down the back of the leg.

Sciatic nerve pain occurs where there is damage to the sciatic nerve located at the back of the leg.

Prevention is better than cure. See how.

This nerve controls the muscles of the back of the knee and lower leg and provides sensation to the back of the thigh, part of the lower leg and the sole of the foot.

Common symptoms of sciatic nerve pain include:

  • Cramping sensation of the thigh
  • Shooting pains from the buttocks down the leg
  • Tingling or pins and needles sensations in the legs and thighs
  • Burning sensation in the thigh

Lose Sciatica pain in 7 days! Find out how here.

Sciatica can develop in almost anyone with an age ranging from 30 to 50 year old patients. The sciatic nerve, like most other nerves, performs two basic functions, first it sends signals to your muscles from the brain, and second it collects sensory information from the legs and passes this back to your brain. When people normally refer to sciatica, it is not necessarily a problem of the sciatic nerve; it is a problem of the nerve when it is being pinched as it exits from the spine.

The sciatic nerve is commonly injured by the fractures of the pelvis or other trauma to the buttocks or to the thigh.  This pressure is created due to prolonged sitting or lying in a particular position, which gradually injures the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve may also be harmed by pressure from such as tumor or bleeding in the pelvis. Depending on where the sciatic nerve is affected, the pain may also radiate to the foot or toes. The following sensations may occur as a result of sciatica:

  • Pain at the back or leg that is worse when sitting.
  • Burning or tingling sensation down the leg
  • Difficulty moving the leg or foot due to weakness or numbness
  • A constant pain on one side of the rear that makes difficulty to stand up.

Precautions to be taken:
Sciatica can be very frightening especially if you don’t realize what is wrong. You begin to feel that you may become crippled, although most of the time sciatic nerve pain can be treated effectively. For the first few days it is very important to stay off your feet. Getting up and down repeatedly causes the nerve to become more irritated. Warm water soaking can be very soothing but prolonged heat draws the inflammation in, keeping the swelling high. Most doctors tell their patients to apply ice packs directly on to their lower back area for about twenty minutes, every couple of hours. Although this can feel like a torture, the cold pack reduces swelling.

Treatment:
Some doctors prescribe medicines but medications can be highly addictive.

Substitute addictive drugs with  natural pain killers or through learning  how to apply self hypnosis or even learning how to ‘tap’ your pain away with EFT

Surgery is not considered as a good alternative as it only helps about one in a hundred people. Surgery has also been known to cause even more damage in many cases. Only open back surgery can correct sciatica but it also may bring with it high risks and many complications. There is also another treatment that is the laser spine treatment where the protruded disc is removed with laser so that the spinal cord or the nerve root is no longer impinged.

By Jayashree Pakhare

Find a Good Lower Back Exercise For Sciatica Pain

If you have problems with your sciatica nerve, you are likely to be seeking a decent lower back exercise that acts quickly to help you get rid of the pain.

Obesity As a Source of Back Pain and Sciatica

Back pain and sciatica affect millions of Americans every year. Half a million Americans undergo life changing surgery as a result of the pain

Yoga poses for sciatica: exercise for sciatica

Sciatica is a shooting pain that begins from the lower end of the spine, travels through the buttocks and then to the back of the leg. Apart from the pain, the affected person feels a tingling sensation, weakness or numbness

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April 13th 2009

Sciatica Relief, Safe Back Exercises For Back Pain Sufferers

Sciatica is the condition when you experience pain or numbness in your lower back and down one or both legs.

causes symptoms of lower back painUsually it is a result of a misalignment or injury to your lower back which causes pressure to be placed upon the sciatic nerve. It is the pressure upon your sciatic nerve that causes the pain and numbness.

If you have regular episodes of sciatica and back pain there are a few simple things you can to do to alleviate it:

No 1. The first thing you need to is understand what things you are doing that are causing the sciatica pain in the first place and

No 2. Then you need to learn more about how to treat your back properly and stop doing those things that aggravate it.

The factors that increase your risk of experiencing sciatica and back pain include common factors such as:
Sitting or driving for long periods, especially with a bad posture and without taking a break for a stretch or a walk
Heavy and/or repeated lifting with a bad technique
Repetitive wrong/stressful movements
General lack of exercise and being out of condition or overweight

No 3. Thirdly, make the commitment to regularly practice a set of sciatica exercises to strengthen your back and stay pain free.

Your back is the central supporting and movement system of your body, so if the muscles that surround and support it are unfit and inflexible you are much more likely to develop sciatica and back problems.

Some Alternative Natural Treatments For Sciatica :

Your lower back is supported by the so-called “core muscles”. If these core muscles in particular are weak, it means your lower back is carrying a larger part of the strain of lifting and twisting and you are more likely to suffer low back pain as a result.

This is why a lot of back pain exercises focus on strengthening these core muscles, or at least “waking them up” and making them more flexible.

Getting Results
Most people find it is possible to stop sciatica in just a few weeks or sometimes just a few days and to give themselves a healthy back.

Sciatica Exercises
Remember, any sciatica exercises you do are going to be much more effective if you first eliminate the habits that are creating your sciatica in the first place. If you spend all day with a bad posture or repeating a movement that is bad for your back over and over, then, a few minutes of sciatica exercise will struggle to overcome the negative effects.

Walking exercises for back pain
Walking is great for your back and also a great all-round exercise but the reality is that in recent years people have tended to w alk less and less.

It might sound too simple, but if you don’t walk regularly already, adding a daily walk of 20-30 minutes to your routine will do wonders for your back and your overall health.

As you develop your endurance, you can walk further and add hmore hills into your route. Some people find that walking with hand weights and swinging their arms, extends the aerobic benefits of a walk.

Sciatica Stretch – The Back Pull Down
This exercise is great at waking up back muscles that are often dormant. It is best done with an elastic exercise band which you can buy from almost any sporting goods store.

As an alternative, you can use any household item that has some degree of elasticity e.g. an elastic luggage strap, an old bicycle inner tube etc. You can also use a rolled up towel, but the lack of stretch in it will make the exercise harder to do.

Sit upright in a chair with your back straight and your tummy pulled in. Raise your arms above your head holding the elastic band or towel in between them horizontally with your hands approximately shoulder width apart.

Stretch your arms up as far as they will go then slowly pull your arms behind your neck, keeping the elastic band or towel horizontal and with a slight tension on it.

Keep pulling down until the band is roughly half way down your back (if you can get that far). Rest there briefly, then raise your arms again until your arms up as far as they will go again. Remember to keep the band horizontal while you move it up and down.

Do the movements up and down slowly and steadily, don’t rush them. You can change the degree of difficulty and effect of the exercise by increasing or decreasing the tension on the band or towel.

If you pull harder to make it tight as you move up and down it takes more effort, but it has the benefit of working your back muscles harder and differently than if you do it with only light tension in the band.

Repeat the exercise about 5 times the first time you do it (depending on how fit you are and what your back tells you about the effect.

DON’T OVERDO it at first or you’re likely to end up sore and not inclined to do it again for a while and it is best done regularly.

Then you can build up the repetitions over time until you’ve reached 20, which is about as many as you will ever need to do at one time.

Swimming
Swimming has a great blend of characteristics – it is aerobic, it is strength building and it is low/no impact.

The freestyle stroke with alternate side breathing (meaning you breathe on the left side, do 1 or 3 strokes and then breathe on the right side and so on) is the best stroke for back problems. The regular up and down movement of your legs loosens and strengthens muscles in your lower back area.

As with walking, you can start off slowly and gradually build up how far you swim.

Besides exercise, relaxation is a great healer so it might be a good idea to take up meditation or listen to some relaxing CD’s on a regular basis.

I use relaxation CD’s myself on a regular basis and the relaxing music is particularly good for giving you a good night’s sleep. You can get some relaxing music here.

Author: Chris Galloway

Chris has learned the most effective treatment for sciatica through personal experience of back injury and living with sciatica and back pain but still remaining fit and active. Find out more about sciatica exercises and sciatica home treatment at http://www.sciaticacenter.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Galloway

Mid Back Pain Relief: Do You Know These Techniques?

It can also be caused if you are lifting heavy loads and usually characterized by a sharp pain to your lower back. However, a number of mid back pain relief treatments can be used without the need for drugs. Stretching can be effective …

Understanding Lower Back Pain And What You Can Do About It …

With pain in lower back, it could be a number of different causes. One possibility is a pinched nerve, which can be identified if you feel a sharp pain that begins to spread to your buttocks or even down your leg. 

The Foundation of Back Pain

Disk degeneration will show its self as chronic or sharp back pain as the muscles preserving the disks go into spasm. The disk degeneration may become inflamed and may possibly cause joint or structural pain.

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April 10th 2009

What is Sciatica: Pain and Relief Remedies

Treatments for Sciatica, an aching condition that is characterized by lower back pain are numerous. Let us discover some  effective Home Remedies for Sciatica Relief ..

lower back painSciatica Causes

It is essential to understand that sciatica itself is not the name of a disease but rather it is condition caused by a set of other conditions. Sciatica is generally caused by these primary conditions:

Firstly we have Herniated Discs which is sciatica caused by the pressure from a herniated or protruding disc on the sciatic nerve. A herniated disc is simply a disc that has been displaced due to external pressure from an accident or by constant pressure due to muscle imbalance. This can be the cause for sciatic pain but it is equally important to note that many people with herniated discs may not experience any pain at all.

Then sciatica can be caused by Piriformis Syndrome. The piriformis muscle exerts pressure on the sciatic nerve when muscle imbalances cause the joints in the pelvic areas to be pulled out of place and thus changing the seat of the piriformis muscle, which in turn puts pressure on the sciatic nerve.

Learn how to ease or prevent sciatica

Spinal Stenosis is the narrowing or constriction of the space in the spinal canal causing muscle imbalances that tug at your hip and spine and cause them to become positioned awkwardly causing an irritation due to constant contact and pressuring the sciatic nerve.

Isthmic Spondylolisthesis
This is when a vertebra is dislocated from its normal position and can start to pinch the sciatic nerve.

If you have noticed all these conditions have a common denominator: muscle strain or muscle imbalance. A muscle injury can occur anywhere and it means that your muscle flexibility is reduced and there is pain in most cases followed by various other sciatica symptoms like numbness, muscular irritation, tingling sensation etc.

These may be a result of a more serious internal condition and it is imperative to consult a doctor immediately to be able to diagnose the correct reason for this condition. In rare cases, a surgery might be necessary too but in most cases the diagnosis consists of pain alleviating medication, analgesics and specially designed exercises that must be practiced with regularity in order to obtain sciatica relief.

Sciatica Treatment
Though exercises and medication is a must but they must only be taken after advice from a doctor. But there have been some time tested  natural cures for healing sciatica.

Sciatica cures assume various forms and these home remedies have been found to be very helpful if incorporated into daily life along with the proper exercise routines.

Home remedies for sciatica relief

A pain relief nutritious diet

Juices like the juice of potatoes and celery leaves. These juices in combination are said to provide sciatica relief when drunk in a minimum quantity of 10 ounces daily. The addition of carrots and beetroots to this mixture is said to fortify the strength and taste. If you can’t drink the juice drinking celery tea throughout the day is also beneficial.

Elderberry juice and/or elderberry tea is a known muscle relaxant and stimulant and is said to treat sciatica symptoms.

Consuming raw garlic or taking garlic supplements with along with additional supplements of vitamin B1 and B-complex gives relief from aches and pains, aids circulation, is an anti-oxidant and also provides the body with warmth and energy.

The common natural sources of B1 or Thiamine are Green peas, Spinach, Liver, Beef, and Pork, Navy beans, Nuts, Pinto beans, Bananas, Soybeans, Whole-grain Cereals, Breads, unpolished rice and Legumes. Thus maintaining a healthy balanced diet containing these and salads containing watercress and parsley apart from green leafy vegetables and fresh red vegetables is very important for good health.

Some claim that garlic milk also can be an excellent sciatica home treatment. Just mince two cloves of garlic in about a cup of milk and drink this concoction twice daily and the results can be seen in just a week’s time.

Germans have been eating raw sauerkraut since ages to relieve muscular pain.

However, care must be taken to avoid garlic if you are taking any other medication like anticoagulants, if you have any bleeding disorders or ulcers and take the advice of your doctor before taking garlic supplements.

Another magical home remedy to treat sciatica is fresh minced horseradish poultice, which when applied to the painful areas and kept for at least an hour at a time stimulates the sciatica nerve and give tremendous relief from sciatica pain.

Water is one of the best natural treatment options for sciatica pain relief. Water can help to bring down pain by improving circulation. Taking long hot bath or a shower and following it up with a short cold shower is said to boost the body’s circulation and reduce pain. Taking hot and cold compresses too is equally beneficial.

Eazol is a good natural pain killer

Treatments for sciatica must include a good diet, exercise and the patient must aim at improving overall health. Also to avoid such problems in the long run, sleeping on a firm mattress, sitting and standing in a good posture, avoiding lifting heavy loads should be a part of everyday care that must be taken. It is these small things that cause sciatica over a period of time.

By Jayashree Pakhare

Sciatica Diet

Sciatica Diet written by a recovered sciatic nerve pain sufferer. Article details using nutritional therapy to treat back and leg pain.  

Exercises For Sciatica – What Causes Back Pain?

While most patients would rather rest in bed, sciatica exercises are the best solution to start the healing process for sciatica pain. After the patient has a sciatica access, doctors will usually recommend a small period of rest

Sciatica Home Treatment – Best Treatments

This home treatment for sciatica back pain focuses on the modification of your diet. If you look around at home, you’ll find lots of healthy foods that can aid you in your battle against sciatica. There’s potato and celery juice that … 

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April 4th 2009

Causes Of Sciatica And Treatment

Sciatica Pain is caused due to the irritation of sciatic nerve specifically in lower back, back of thighs and hip region. Often, treatments are varied depending on the causes of the visible symptoms.

Here are some suggested home treatments you can use to help ease the pain alongside consultation with a specialist:

treatment for sciatica

What is Sciatica?
If you are a sedentary worker experiencing back pain or lower body pain, especially in the legs in the form of numbness, tingling and you have a problem walking or flexing your muscles, consult a doctor immediately. The cause of this could be a condition known as sciatica.

Sciatica is a set of conditions that are caused when the sciatic nerve which is the largest nerve with the diameter as that of a finger in the body is pressurized or an irritation occurs in the radicular nerve that exits the lower spine it causes pain in the lower body especially the lower back, the back of thighs and legs and the hip region. Thus this condition is also known as radiculopathy. Sciatica is not always very serious and generally resolves in 4-6 weeks but in some cases it may require surgery, especially when caused due to infections or tumors and in such situations it is best to have the opinion of a medical practitioner promptly.

Sciatica Symptoms
The most common signs and symptoms of sciatica are pain in the lower extremities of the body especially starting at the base of the spine and routing downwards along the path of the sciatic nerve or nerve root to the pelvic region, buttocks, thighs, back of the legs and foot. This pain may be a slight nuisance pain that can be a tingling pain or even a burning sensation and numbness that can vary in intensity and also be constant or intermittent developing gradually, making it hard to detect always.

Sciatica usually occurs only on one side of the body.

Causes of Sciatica
Sciatica pain is generally seen in people who need to spend long amounts of time sitting or standing and bad posture and lack of muscle movement causes the muscles to constrict or be irritated causing pain. It can even be bought on by hard sneezes, coughing fits and lifting something, these activities may cause pressure on the spine and thus it may irritate the radicular nerve by extending beyond its normal position.

Commonly the major cause can be pinned as disc herniation in the lumbar spine which presses directly on the sciatic nerve and any triggers by such a reaction for example by irritation of the nerve from adjacent bone which in turn produces the symptoms of sciatica. Besides a compressed or a pinched nerve, other causes could also be tumors, muscle, internal bleeding, infections, injury etc. thus sciatica is not really a disease by itself but rather many other dependants make it into a medical condition worthy of attention. Even something as simple as muscle strain may cause the muscle to freeze up or be “pulled” and gradually develop into this problem.

Spinal stenosis is the constriction or narrowing of the spaces in the spine that causes the spine or the nerves to be compressed in a way that it causes pain especially in the lower back.

In advanced spinal osteoarthritis, a bit of cartilage may break away and become mobile in the spinal area and become a reason of irritation and inflammation which when occurring in the lower back region may develop into sciatica by putting undue pressure on the sciatic nerve. This is also called in degenerative disc disease.

If a vertebra slips over the other, which is commonly called as slipped disc or Spondylolisthesis the skewed vertebra could pressurize the sciatic nerve.

There are still other issues which can trigger sciatica pain like Piriformis syndrome, sacroiliac joint dysfunction etc which are not really sciatica but these diseases may also set off sciatica because of their symptoms.

Sciatica Treatment
In cases which are very extreme sciatica can be serious enough for being operated upon. Thus, it becomes very important to diagnose the real cause for sciatica in order to rule out the possibility of another serious heath problem which could require immediate attention and/or surgery.

Sciatica treatment should only be carried out by a trained health professional. Besides anti-inflammatory medication and analgesics, exercise is also prescribed under the care of a physiotherapist. As the type of exercise depends on the cause of sciatic pain they must be done after consultation and practiced on a regular basis, twice a day to provide complete relief from pain. Though bed rest may seem like the better option but inactivity results in the muscles degenerating further and exercising them makes them more mobile by boosting circulation and helps to adequately carry the fluids and nutrients across the system.

Minding the body posture and avoiding soft surfaces that encourage slouching must be a part of treatment. Being in the same position for long or lifting things puts strains on the spinal chord as well as the muscles in the hips and legs thus that must also be avoided.

It is best to consult a doctor immediately in order to diagnose the problem correctly and ensure that appropriate steps are taken or this could develop into a grave problem.

By Jayashree Pakhare

Understanding Lower Back Pain And What You Can Do About It

One possibility is a pinched nerve, which can be identified if you feel a sharp pain that begins to spread to your buttocks or even down your leg. Typically it is the sciatic nerve that suffers from a herniated disc or pinched nerve. 

Pinched Nerve Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

A pinched nerve is caused when a nerve is somehow damaged or injured by direct pressure or compression and is unable to properly conduct its signal. There are many potential causes for a pinched nerve, depending on the location 

Back Pain Problem

If you have pain in your back when you cough, weakness in your legs that doesn’t get better, pain in the back with a fever, loss of bladder or bowel control it might mean that you have a pinched nerve or perhaps another condition. 

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