I'm seeing a big uptick in cases of sciatic pain in clinic. Sciatica is nerve pain from an injury or irritation to your sciatic nerve. It sometimes presents as low back pain that spreads into the butt, the groin, or down the legs, and if you'll excuse the pun - it's a huge pain in the butt!
Sciatica can be caused by a number of issues, some of them treatable and some you'll have to learn to manage - but the good news is there's usually something we can do to help ease the pain and improve your mobility.
If you're concerned you may be suffering from sciatica go and get yourself checked out by a trusted Physiotherapist or GP. In the mean time, let's take a quick look at ways you can help manage this condition at home.
Sciatica Self Care
There are three main ways you can address your sciatic pain at home, those are stretching; improving your core strength; and avoiding inflammatory foods. Let's take a quick look at each of these and how you can optimise each of them.
Stretching
I know - no one wants to hear me tell them they need to stretch more. You probably already know you ought to be doing this, and you're probably also going to give me a million terrible excuses as to why you can't, the usual one being time.
Those of you who have worked with me before know I'm a stickler for staying out of victim mentality - keep an eye out for a future post on this - and taking accountability for what you choose to do, and not do, with your time.
It's true, we're all busy and often feel rushed and stressed out, but I promise you if you come in and talk to me I will find 5 minutes in your day we could use for stretching. It's all about priorities - what's more important to you, getting on top of your pain, or doom scrolling social media feeds? If it's the socials, that's fine, but know your trouble spots are likely to get worse as you age. If you're good with that, carry on my friend.
If you want to prioritise your health and wellbeing, I suggest you find 5 minutes a day you can dedicate to some good stretching. Here's a link to a youtube video you can try - if any of it flares your pain, stop immediately.
Core strength
This is another one we often struggle to prioritise, but adding in a few minutes of core strength work a few days a week can help support your back and ease the pain and discomfort you're feeling. As a side benefit, a stronger core can help prevent further back injuries or issues. Below are some links to some beginner core exercise videos you can try at home. Remember - it's all about priorities! Making time for this now will pay off in the future.
Avoid Inflammatory foods
You've likely heard me talk about this before too, reducing or removing inflammatory foods from your diet can make a huge difference to ongoing pain issues - and a host of other health complaints including ankylosing spondylitis and arthritis.
What are inflammatory foods, I hear you ask. Great question! They're foods that set off or heighten your body's inflammatory response, which can in turn make your pain worse.
The worst offenders are sugar, refined carbohydrate, trans fats, and hydrogenated oils.
The bad news - you'll find these lurking in all manner of food products, especially processed foods, and they tend to make up most of the cheaper oil options at the supermarket. The good news -there are tons of healthier alternatives if you take some time to go hunting.
We don't have to get rid of all of it at once, but making a plan to start reducing the amount of this stuff in our diets will make a difference over time. And if we build up to removing it completely, great!
Are you struggling to get your head around your diet and how you can improve your nutrition and reduce inflammatory foods? Book in for a session and I can help you navigate this. We'll take an in depth look at your diet and together we'll make a game plan to get you moving in the right direction.
Want a little more help with your sciatica?
We have loads of options here. Try a physiotherapist for exercises you can do at home, and to make sure you don't need to go for scans or further investigations. You can also give osteopathy a try, or chiropractic. Or come in for some acupuncture - I have administered acupuncture to many patients suffering sciatica and have had really good results.
Any other questions? Just get in touch, I'm happy to answer them as best I can.
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