Sciatica and back pain affect 80% of Americans. Most who suffer from these issues resort to over-the-counter medications for relief, but if you deal with it, maybe you should focus on finding the root of the problem.
There are several factors that can cause lower back pain.
- Alcohol consumption
- Sports accidents and injuries
- Exhaustion and tiredness
- Obesity
- Being distracted during physical tasks
- Bad posture
- Intimacy
- Lack of physical activity
Most back pain fades within 30 days, but it can be hard to deal with in the meantime, as the brain will zoom in on lasting pain. You can also:
- Go for chiropractic treatment
- Consume anti-inflammatory foods (ginger, Boswellia, turmeric, etc.)
- Cool the area with ice
- Go for acupuncture
A pinching of these nerves is what causes sciatica, or pain of the sciatica nerve. You can help soothe it by doing stretches like:
- Piriformis stretch
- Pigeon pose
- Seated hip stretch
You can also use the ever-popular self-trigger point therapy option with just a tennis ball!
Here are the details and guidelines for how to use this trick:
- Lie down over a tennis ball
- Find the place in your glutes that is giving you pain and soreness
- Bring the tennis ball to that sore location
- Relax over the tennis ball and use your body to move it around for a massage
How does this work, exactly?
Well, the ball presses against certain areas in the piriformis muscle that serve as trigger points, allowing for a reduction in stiffness and tension while providing benefits for circulation and mobility.
When you find the pain location, press the area into the tennis ball.
Do this for between half a minute and a full minute, or as long as you need to before you begin to feel the pain ebb away.
Then, move on to another location that is sore. The total exercise should take between 5 and 10 minutes.
Use some alternative treatments for Sciatica:
- Anti-inflammatory linings and oils for soreness relief
- A trigger point massage (done by putting firm pressure over certain areas in the glutes,
- piriformis, and lower back regions)
- Yoga to relieve symptoms and ease pain
- Chiropractic care performed thrice weekly
- Acupuncture to lessen symptoms
- Pilates to help boost balance and reduce injury risk while soothing pain
You should also pay lots of attention to your posture. This will help reduce pain and prevent you from having to deal with any worsening issues.
You also shouldn’t stay in a seated position for longer than an hour at a time.
How to prevent back pain:
- Increase vitamin K2 and D consumption.
- Kick your smoking habit. Smoking restricts lower spinal blood flow and can lead to disc degeneration.
- Keep an eye on your posture and don’t remain seated for extended periods of time. If you spend a lot of time standing, balance your body weight evenly over both of your legs, and try not to bed over too much.
- Sleep well at night, and try to sleep lying on your side. Don’t forget to stretch before bed!
- Drink more water and stay hydrated.
- Work on strengthening the muscles located around your spinal cord while focusing on balance and flexibility improvement. This can be done through workouts twice weekly.
- You may also want to consider foundation training exercises or yoga.
- Consider K-Laser treatment, which helps boost healing while soothing inflammation and pain.
- Do some grounding activities to soothe pain and bring down inflammation levels.
- Do mind-body techniques that help ease psychological issues and reduce levels of stress.
Pain of any kind can be frightening, especially if it becomes severe enough to impair your ability to do daily tasks.
So the next time this happens, grab a tennis ball and see what you can do!
