Can Physical Therapy Resolve My Recurrent Sciatica?

Pain can be experienced in almost every part of the body, and while all of it travels through your nerves to your brain, not all pain is nerve pain. Your nervous system is the messenger system for sensations and a whole range of other functions, but actual nerve damage has different signs from a cut, a bruise, or other injuries. Often, it’s accompanied by tingling, numbness, or stabbing or shooting pain.

It’s no different from one of the most common forms of nerve pain, sciatica, which affects the largest and longest nerve you have located on the lower half of your body and is a frequent source of back pain. Sadly, many people also deal with recurring problems with this problem, but this is where physical therapy can come in to help. 

Let’s examine the issues that cause sciatica, what can make the pain persistent, and how physical therapy can help.

If you live in the Fort Worth, Texas area, and you’re coping with lower pain and other signs of sciatica, Dr. Joseph Daniels and his medical staff at Southwest Orthopedic Associates can help you feel better.

Sciatica causes and factors

This massive nerve runs from the base of your spine near the buttocks all the way down both legs, so pain you experience can potentially refer anywhere along that range. Irritation, pinching, compression, or damage of the nerve often happens in the lower back, and these conditions can make that happen:

• Herniated discs: an injury of your spine where the discs in your vertebrae (cushions that help you move) are ruptured, slip, or bulge and press on your sciatic nerve
• Degenerative disc disease: an illness where the discs in your spine are worn away and the bones begin to rub together and aggravate the nerves
• Osteoarthritis: a very common condition that wears down the tissue and muscles in joints
• Injuries: impact injuries, accidents, or other related damage to your lower back can damage the sciatic nerve
• Spinal stenosis: this results from the space around your spine narrowing, which cramps the spinal cord and nerve in the area

Common factors that also increase your risks include jobs where you stress your back through heavy lifting, lots of driving or constant twisting, obesity, diabetes, age, and sitting for long periods of time.

Factors that make it persistent

Many of the causes of sciatica are persistent issues, but mild cases tend to come and go. The pain is more likely to recur when:

• Injuries are aggravated over and over, possibly leading to repetitive overuse, herniated discs, and sciatica
• Age and health problems like hypertension, heart disease, malnutrition, smoking, and alcohol abuse slow down your spine’s healing time
• Wear-and-tear of your spine over time leads to problems like spinal stenosis
• Not exercising enough over a long period of time
• Developing a spinal infection
• Dealing with spinal tumors or masses

What physical therapy can do to help

Severe problems with your back that lead to sciatica can require surgery if all else fails, but very often sciatic pain can be resolved with physical therapy whether it’s recurrent or not. Here’s how we can make that happen:

Improving back strength

To restore your spinal musculature, we can use gentle strengthening exercises to relieve stress, reduce the severity of pain, and improve posture. Making sure the muscles in your back are properly supported is key to helping with your sciatica.

Increasing flexibility

Movement of your hips, gluteal muscles, and hamstrings is necessary for so many basic actions, and each of those parts can be affected by sciatic pain. We can improve it through piriformis stretches and yoga.

Cold and heat to relieve pain

Cold compresses are useful when the pain starts up to 20 minutes at a time a few times daily. Applying heat can be more useful after a few days of the pain, and managing your issues can be done with a combination of both.

Massage treatments

Massaging your lower back can ease the muscles and reduce stress, which helps to improve mobility and relieve pain. This is often done when exercises are finished and your body needs to be relaxed.

These methods can do wonders for recurring sciatica, but afterward, you’ll need to focus on reducing your chances of aggravating those nerves in the future. Improving your posture, getting in regular physical activity and exercises that don’t stress the lower back, and improving your lifestyle and diet can work wonders to lower your chances of repeat issues.

If you’re struggling with sciatic pain, make an appointment with Dr. Daniels and Southwest Orthopedic Associates today to get relief.