6 Ways to Help Relieve Sciatic Nerve Pain
By Stephen R. Farris
Do you feel excruciating pain in your lower back area? It could be your sciatic nerve acting up. Your local chiropractor can help give you relief for it through a series of treatments. They can also suggest a few exercises you can do between treatments to help speed up your recovery time.
Here's a few exercises that can help get you back on the road to recovery a little faster. Some of these you may be familiar with if you do yoga or tai chi.
Reclining Pigeon Pose
This is one of those stretching exercises you see in yoga class, but it especially helps to open up the hips. One of the movements of this stretching exercise will help stretch the piriformis muscle (a tiny muscle in the thigh) that sometimes becomes inflamed and presses against the sciatic nerve. For step-by-step instructions for this particular exercise you can do a search on the internet to find several videos that will show you proper technique, as for the other exercises that will be mentioned in this article.
Sitting Pigeon Pose
The sitting pigeon pose is one you can do sitting upright on the floor, and it's designed to stretch the glutes and lower back.
Forward Pigeon Pose
You'll have to get on all fours for the forward pigeon pose. It also incorporates breathing and is another stretching exercise that helps stretch the glutes and lower back.
Knee to Opposite Shoulder
While it may be a little painful to do, depending on the degree of pain you're feeling. However, it can also give you a bit of relief in your sciatic nerve and piriformis muscle.
Sitting Spinal Stretch
When your vertebrae compress, it can cause sharp pain in your sciatic nerve. This exercise is designed to create space and relieve pressure in the spine and sciatic nerve.
Standing Hamstring Stretch
Basically, this stretching exercise is designed to help loosen up the hamstring muscle, which can tighten up due to sciatic nerve pain.
If you don't have access to the internet, your local chiropractor can demonstrate the proper technique you should use to perform these and other stretching exercises, and they may have literature available for you to take home and use as reference.
Why wait and suffer with pain, while you could be getting relief from it? Visit your local chiropractor today. If you're not sure who to call, look up The Joint Chiropractic. With more than 500 nationwide locations, there's probably one near you. No appointment is necessary, walk-ins are always welcome, and there's no hassle with insurance or co-pays.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Houston, Tex.