Sciatic Nerve Pain Self Help

Posted on March 9, 2010
Filed Under back pain | Leave a Comment

Suffering from sciatica (sciatic nerve pain)? Are you using heat or ice to relieve the pain? One of the most common misconceptions people have when it comes to sciatica treatment, is whether or not to use heat or ice. You can find many recommendation out there but a simple rule of thumb for deciding on heat or ice is, or should be, based on your symptoms.

~If you have sharp or intense pain with or without swelling, which indicates that there is inflammation present, then this is when you want to use ice.

~If you are experiencing mild stiffness or are a little sore then this indicates that there isn’t a significant amount of swelling which means that heat will not worsen the pain and can help ease it instead.

It is always best to avoid heat when first experiencing sciatic nerve pain for the first 48 hours. This is to ensure that there isn’t any inflammation present and that it doesn’t develop. When the sciatic nerve first experiences trauma or injury it normally becomes inflamed and heat will cause this inflammation to worsen. The heat, when applied, may feel good and ease the pain but, because it will worsen the inflammation it will hurt worse when removed. When in doubt, use ice.

I found this to be very true as I have suffered from sciatic nerve pain for many years and have always applied heat and felt the relief while applied but, after removing the heat the sciatic nerve pain was always still there and many times it was worse after removing the heat than before I applied it.

As for any injury where inflammation and swelling are present most doctors will recommend application of ice packs to help reduce swelling and inflammation. Ice is one of the best anti-inflammatory measures you can take even though it may not feel comfortable. The short term discomfort of applying ice packs will be rewarded in long term relief of sciatic nerve pain.

Some precautions you should take when using heat or ice to avoid skin irritation or damage are, first always place a cloth between the heat or ice pack and your skin. Second Do not apply the heat or ice pack if you have applied a topical analgesic such as, Icy Hot, Ben Gay, Theragesic, Biofreeze, or any other, until the effects have worn off completely as this can cause skin damage as well as irritation.

When applying heat or ice you should only apply it for twenty minuets once every two hours, once an hour if pain is severe but, to help avoid skin damage try to do it every two. hours. It will take time to feel the heat or cold through a cloth so, wait until you actually feel the heat or cold before you start timing.

If you suffer from impaired circulation or decreased skin sensitivity due to, diabetes, nerve damage, or anything else that causes reduced blood circulation, consult a doctor before applying ice or heat.

After many years of suffering from sciatica I finally found some information that help me cure my sciatica and also helped with long term preventive measures to keep it from recurring. Click Here to find out how I did it. This and other unique content ‘sciatica’ articles are available with free reprint rights.

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