Sciatic nerve pain can cause an uncomfortable sensation down the back of your leg all the way to your heel. The source of that pain starts deep in your buttock and is usually caused by a specific muscle pushing on that hard-to-reach nerve. Through physical-therapy techniques, your doctor can help you alleviate this pain through a combination of education, heat and ice packs, and strategic stretching.
Education
Often the first part of physical therapy for sciatica involves education. It would be good strategy to get some initial education on where the sciatica pain comes from. The sciatic nerve is located deep in the buttocks near the lower back on either side. Many times the pain comes from pressure by the piriformis muscle. There are other reasons that can cause sciatic pain such as degenerative discs. For more information, be sure to ask your doctor what he suspects and ask him to show you on a diagram so you have a better sense of generally avoid the pain.
Heat, Ice and Ultra Sound
There are also other strategies taken during physical therapy to alleviate sciatic nerve pain. An application of heat can help relax the piriformis muscle to stretch more, while ice applications can numb persistent pain. Ultra-sound relief can also be applied. It involves the use of sound waves to remove scar tissue from damaged muscles. The sound waves are sent through a crystal in a handheld device. The crystal vibrates and travels through a special gel which then sends the vibrations to the damaged muscle tissue.
Stretching
If your body is up for it, your doctor may also recommend several stretching techniques for sciatic nerve pain. As mentioned earlier, the piriformis muscle can put pressure on the sciatic nerve. One stretch that can relieve that pressure can actually be done in the seat of your chair. You start by putting your left ankle on top of your right knee. You then put one arm through the triangle-shaped hole you made between your legs and your other arm around the outside of your right leg. Interlace your fingers and pull up on your thigh as you bend down slightly. You should feel a slight pull or burn deep in your left buttock. Hold this for about a minute and then switch legs.
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