Sciatica Pain Flare Up
Sciatica pain can flare up when the sciatic nerve is irritated and the usual cause is from compression somewhere. The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve inside the human body with the nerve roots branching from away down in the lower back. The nerve starts from the spine and runs down both legs. The nerve in turn branches further into the calf, foot and toes.
Symptoms associated with the sciatica pain are leg ache, numbness or foot soreness. When agony flares up what physical exercises may be accomplished to bring relief?
The sciatica exercise program involve three areas which are strengthening, stretching and low impact aerobic workouts. Not only is strengthening the back vital, but also the supporting muscle tissues require a workout. By working on all these elements a person can decrease sciatica discomfort considerably. Strengthen the abdominal and back muscle groups with some basic work outs like curl-ups, sit-ups seem to provide the most benefit.
Stretching may be the second part of a balanced sciatica exercise program. The muscle groups can get tight and produce pressure on the lower part of the back. The hamstring when overly tight can also aggravate the sciatica nerve considerably. This is my own personal area of discomfort and I therefore practice various hamstring stretching in my sciatic nerve exercise program.
Coping With Hamstring Pain
Hamstring pain is the discomfort that results because of the tear in one or more of the hamstring muscles which may be the semitendinosus, semimembranosus and the biceps femoris. This pain is sometimes referred to as the hamstring strain or pulled hamstring.
How to relief the hamstring pain:
This process should start immediately after the injury has occurred that is the first twenty four hours after the injury. These methods of relieving pain can be administered by the athlete himself/herself or be carried out by a professional/specialist.
Athlete themselves:
a. Application of cold therapy which is commonly referred to as RICE (Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate) technique. The athlete should rest while resting then ice should be applied on the injured area experiencing pain followed by compression and raising the area.
b. Application of a compression bandage, this is used in minimizing intra muscular bleeding.
c. Mobilization of the lower injured limb. This is important in taking the muscles back to where they were before the injury. This can be done by stretching and strengthening exercises. This helps to decrease the level of swelling of the injured area and it is also important in orientation of muscles.
A sports specialist can do the following in relieving hamstring pain:
a. Sports massage: these are techniques that are employed in order to speed up the recovery and most importantly relieve the pain. Sports massage also goes along way in rehabilitating the affected area or muscles. The massage will help in breaking down collagen network thus allowing for the realignment of muscle fibers and finally minimize scar tissue. Massage done immediately enhances blood flow in the injured area as this will help in decreasing or relieving the pain.
b. Ultrasound therapy: this is a therapeutic ultrasound treatment of hamstring pain/injury. The ultrasonic waves are generated by a mechanical vibrator and these waves are directed on the surface of the skin region where the injury occurred. This leads into production of heat within the tissue thus extensibility of ligaments, tendons and scar tissue hence reducing the pain and muscle spasm thus healing.
c. Rehabilitation: This is used to relief pain depending on the grade of the injury and can take days before the pain goes away. Grade one injury may involve resting from activities which cause pain, cold therapy application, use heat later, stretch sports massage and other activities that will help to clear the pain. Grade two may include activities in grade one with slight variations depending on the extent of the injury. Others are grade three.
d. Static stretching: this can either be done by internal rotation or external rotation. Internal rotation include sitting with one leg bent while the other is straight , rotate the straight leg and stretch the thigh, hold the stretch and repeat this for five minutes. External rotation is the same as external but here the leg is to be rotated outwards.
e. Others that can be done to relief the pain include provision of mobility through aids such as crutches and in severe cases surgery may be administered to repair the damage.
