Contrary to popular belief, sciatica is not actually a disease or a specific medical condition. Instead, the word sciatica is used to describe a certain kind of pain: sciatic means hip and sciatic pain is the kind of pain which generally starts radiating from the lower back, traverses the back of the thigh, and eventually reaches the calf. The feelings associated with sciatic pain can range from a shooting pain throughout the leg, lower back pain similar to menstrual cramping, or the excruciating sensation of a pulled nerve or muscle.
Although sciatica is more or less lifelong and can get aggravated at any point of time if triggered, it is still highly manageable and a person with sciatic pain can live a long, healthy, and happy life with proper pain-management. There are however, a few things that you have to avoid in order to remain healthy if you suffer from this kind of pain. Keep reading to find out.

1. Unsuitable Exercises

It is an unfortunate fact that people suffering from extreme or chronic sciatic pain are disallowed from most high-intensity workouts. The reason being, the higher the power spent on a particular exercise, the more wear and tear your body undergoes. Therefore, high-impact cardio like long-distance running, jumping rope, burpees, etc. and static positions involving holds such as planks and squats are strictly discouraged due to the kind of bodily erosion they cause, which poses the risk of further nervous damage.

2. Improper Diet

In acute sciatica cases, the digestive tract might sustain some damage from continued pressure in and around the region. In situations like this, it is wise to avoid dairy, extremely cold dishes or beverages, inflammatory ingredients such as chillies, red meat, etc. as coughing and retching makes back pain worse. Moreover, since obesity is one of the leading causes of sciatica in the first place, it is heavily suggested that people going through it maintain a healthy diet which is calorie-adjusted and rich in nutrients, fibre, and protein.

3. Not getting 8 hours of rest

When our body is sleeping, it is healing. All the injuries, harm, and damage that our body has to inevitably endure by the virtue of existence itself is resolved within us when we allow our body time to rejuvenate. Therefore, if we don’t allow it the resting time that it badly needs to return to a state of normalcy and functionality, it will not be able to provide us with the kind of support that we are used to receiving and rely on it for. Ultimately, a lack of long, restful sleep makes one’s body regress into lethargy and illness which is even more debilitating for people who already suffer from chronic pain.

4. Sedentary Lifestyle

Even though high-intensity exercises are discouraged and physical rest is emphasised for sciatic pain patients, a lifestyle which includes lying down, sitting, or resting for prolonged periods of time is equally harmful as the affected area does not receive proper blood circulation and becomes inflexible due to less mobility. Especially if an inactive lifestyle is combined with being overweight, it becomes increasingly difficult to go about the process of pain alleviation since added layers of fat add extra pressure on the nerves, muscles, or bones that are already damaged to begin with.

5. Premature Surgical Intervention

Common surgical procedures for back pain associated with herniated discs, bone fractures, ligament tears, etc. are spinal fusion surgery, microdiscectomy, lumbar disc replacement, etc. Although these surgeries are usually highly-successful, they are often necessary. Sciatica pain, even if acute or chronic, and not caused by secondary or rare medical conditions, does not typically require surgery. It should be managed as organically as possible on a day-to-day basis through activities like brisk walking, stretching your body out every morning, staying hydrated, massages, healthy eating, and deep rest, all of which help in natural pain-prevention.

When you do end up facing the occasional issue with back pain, treatments like physiotherapy, chiropractic healing techniques, acupuncture, etc have historically prove extremely efficient if performed by trained professionals. If you are looking for experts who do physiotherapy in Edmonton, Alberta, you’re in luck as Millwoods Physical Therapy Centre has skilled health experts who have years of experience in back pain and sciatic pain alleviation. Instead of ingesting bottle after bottle of pain-medicines, take the healthier route and heal naturally.