Sciatica Rescue

My sciatica pain suddenly flared up the other day, while I was playing disc golf.

Luckily, I had a battery powered, portable Interferential unit, in my van.

I hooked up the electrodes and fired it up.

Sweet Pain Relief

As soon as I got the intensity of the unit cracked up to the right level, sweet pain relief was on the way. I strapped the fanny pack around my waste, zipped in the interferential unit and continued playing disc golf.

Wonderful Pain Free Experience

I had a wonderful time, enjoying the fresh air, green trees and satisfying pain relief. I even got a good does of vitamin D. From what I’ve read, exposing your skin to the sun helps your own body to produce vitamin D. I was careful of course not to let myself get burned. Much of the course was shaded by trees, I wasn’t getting blasted by a lot of direct sun.

If you enjoyed this video on sciatica, please leave your comments below, we would love to hear from you. If  you have  a   – Sciatica Success Story, we would love to hear it.

Put it to the Test for Yourself

You can get your own portable Interferential unit on a trial basis to see if it works for you. Explore the right sidebar of this site to find out more.

McKenzie Exercises

McKenzie exercises offer hope for the sciatica sufferer.

This first video is targeted towards people who have sciatica due to a disc problem, like disc bulge or disc herniation.

Click here to see the second video, focusing on pain due to piriformis syndrome, and how to tell the difference between true sciatica and piriformis  syndrome.  Often the pain  symptoms are very similar, but the cause is different.

Dr George Best shares a demonstration and explanation of McKenzie exercises.

In this video, he covers the concept of centralisation. While doing McKenzie exercises, the pain should move away from the extremety and closer to the spine. This indicates progress is being made in the right direction. In other words, if the pain radiates from the spine all the way down the leg to the foot, you are looking for the pain to leave the foot area and move closer to the spine.

Basic McKenzie Exercise

The basic movement involves lying face down on a firm surface and propping yourself up with the arms. Very similar to the cobra pose in yoga.  This particular McKenzie exercise involves spinal extension. Some of the other McKenzie movements involve spinal flexion. Dr George is simply demonstrating a basic introductory move.

There are several different modifications that can be done, turning to the left or right. All the while paying attention to whether the pain gets closer to the spine and moves away from the furthest point from the back. Since everyone is different, experimentation is needed to figure out which position is best.

The positions are held 1-2 minutes. Never hold a position that makes the pain worse further down the leg.  Dr. George recommends practicing several times per day.

The Benefit of McKenzie

The idea is to squeeze the discs away from the nerves. With repeated times and repetition, the disc may become more stable and stay off the nerve. If you are lucky, over time the pain can work it’s way out of the leg, and eventually out of the back altogether.

This method is not for everybody. Consult with your personal health professional to see if this may be right for you.

Learn more about Dr. George Best here

Disc or Piriformis?

How do you tell the difference?
The symptoms are very similar, pain down the leg.

The cause or root problem can be different however.

Dr George Best shares 2 simple tests, to help tell the difference.

Sciatica Test

True Sciatica is caused by a disc problem in the spine. Generally you have a bulging disc problem, that is affecting the nerve.
Dr George’s test is to start by sitting in a chair. Bend at the knee, straightening the leg out in front of you. If this increases the pain in the low back, hip area, or causes pain to shoot down the leg, it generally indicates a disc problem. Stretching may not always be the best thing for disc related sciatica.

Piriformis Test

Often what is called sciatica, is really piriformis syndrome. The sciatica nerve runs past, or even through the piriformis muscle in some people. If this muscle gets tight, it can cause pain in the siciatic nerve, in the hip and all down the leg. Stretching can help loosen the the pirifomis, improving the pain situation. Frequent short stretches, throughout the day, are generally better than one long stretching session.

Both Disc and Piriformis

Some people can suffer from both disc related issues and piriformis at the same time.

Easing the Pain with Electrotherapy

Regardless of the cause, electrotheraphy can often be an angel of relief for many people. Interferential or TENS treatment can provide welcome pain relief, while other therapies are undertaken to promote healing of the root problem. To find out if electrotherapy is right for you, click here.

TOP 10 Natural Pain Reducers, Video Series

Sciatica Nerve Pain

Sciatic Nerve Can Become Entrapped in Several different Places Along it’s Path

Dr. Abelson draws out the path of the sciatic nerve right on the lovely model. This gives a great visual representation of where the sciatic nerve can have problems.

A variety of stretches and exercises are shown; each targeting a specific area.Sciatica — Kinetic Health – Video

Common Belief

Most people think sciatica comes from the entrapment of nerve roots in the lumbar spine area. Entrapment can actually happen anywhere along the full length of the sciatic nerve.

Piriformis Syndrome

Pressure from the piriformis muscle can cause sciatic nerve pain. The good news is stretching exercises can do a lot for people who have this particular problem. Some other things that may help include reducing caffeine – and thus muscle tension, and eating a less inflammatory diet.

Tight hamstrings?

Traveling down the leg, we have the hamstrings. tight hamstrings can also cause problems. The problem may even originate in the hamstrings, but cause pain in the back or down the leg into the calf/ ankle area.

Calf Area

The nerve actually divides into 2 paths at the calf. This presents another are of common entrapment.

Video

Did you know that there are lots of people walking around with disc bulge, but have no pain. At the same time folks are suffering from sciatica pain, due to a disc problem. What’s the big difference? – Inflammation

One study used MRI’s to look at people with no back pain symptoms. “Normal” people as one would say. It turns out that 30% of these people have a disc issue, like a disc bulge.

Just goes to show you, if you have a disc problem that is causing pain, it may be possible to reduce the pain, without invasive surgery.

Consulting with a good chiropractor, is a good first step in dealing with sciatica pain and disc issues.