You wake up in the middle of the night with pain radiating from your hip. You are sitting at work all day and your legs start tingling, going numb. Or, maybe everyone is standing and cheering for your kids at a soccer game and your lower back starts to kill while your legs go weak, so you have to sit down.
Sciatica is a drag. You don’t want to keep taking painkillers to dull the pain but, sometimes, it feels like there’s no choice. Luckily, there are some options for naturally relieving sciatica pain without resorting to over-the-counter medication.
Yoga
One of the best ways to naturally relieve sciatica (and all kinds of muscular pain) is by improving your core strength, spine flexibility, and hip mobility. It sounds like a lot, but there is one type of exercise you can do for just 15-20 minutes a day that hits all three goals: yoga.
It’s a great free option (there are hundreds of good quality yoga instructional videos on YouTube and you can do it from the comfort of your home for a few minutes before bed. Make sure to start out easy, though, as it is possible to hurt yourself if you overdo it too quickly—no handstands on day one!
Elevate Your Knees When Sleeping
One cause of sciatica is compression in your lower back which irritates the sciatic nerve. An easy remedy for this, while you sleep, is to elevate your knees. This puts the pressure off your lumbar, which decompresses your lower spine and gives your sciatica nerves some relief.
Tonight when you go to sleep, lie on your back and put pillows under your knees until you feel the tension releasing in your lumbar. Be careful not to lift your knees excessively high or they might go numb. Make sure they are just high enough for you to be comfortable and relaxed.
Bath Before Bed
We all lead busy lives, but sometimes a little quiet time in the bath is literally just what the doctor ordered. Having a warm soak before bed adds some heat to your back muscles, thus releasing tension. Heat submersion also naturally releases endorphins in your body that fight off pain.
If you don’t have time for a bath, other methods of heat therapy work, like applying a hot water bottle or heat pad to the lower back.
Call and Let Us Help
If you want to stop letting sciatica control your mood and lifestyle, give us a call at Anderson Integrated Health Center and learn more about how we can help you get relief from your symptoms.
