Relieving Sciatic Nerve Pain without Surgery

Relieving Sciatic Nerve Pain without Surgery
Sciatic nerve pain is associated with radiating pain that runs along the path of the sciatic nerve. This nerve runs from your lower back, and branches out across your buttocks and hips, eventually traveling down each leg. Sciatica pain is commonly found only on one side of the body can appear as numbness or tingling, inflammation, or pain in the affected leg and hip. The pain associated with sciatica does not usually appear overnight but comes on gradually. Some people experience severe, debilitating pain, while others have only infrequent episodes of pain. Sciatica Causes Common causes of sciatic nerve pain are herniated discs, bone spurs on the spine, degenerative disc disease, or narrowing of the spine which compresses a portion of the nerve (also known as spinal stenosis). The compression of the sciatic nerve causes the painful symptoms but usually has an underlying cause. Sciatica Treatments While in extreme cases, surgery may be necessary to help relieve the symptoms, most experts agree that pursuing non-surgical forms of treatments for sciatic nerve pain are a good first step. In fact, one study found concerning statistics comparing two groups of patients with disc degeneration or herniations, half of which had surgery and half did not. After two years, just 26% of those who had surgery returned to work, compared with 67% of those who didn’t have surgery! Perhaps the most troubling is the 41% increase in the use of pain killers for those who had surgery. So what are your options? Common, non-invasive techniques for relieving back pain include: Increasing core muscle strength Heat/Ice treatments Pain medications or steroid injections Chiropractic or manual manipulation Acupuncture Massage Therapy Inverted Decompression / Inversion Therapy How Inversion Helps with Sciatic Nerve Pain Treatment Inverted decompression (inversion therapy) is a form of gravity-assisted traction that decompresses all weight-bearing joints and elongates the spine, widening the space between the vertebrae and taking pressure off the nerves that run through openings in the spinal column. With the pressure off, the spine works to naturally realign and the discs are able to rejuvenate, absorbing nutrient-rich fluid to help maintain shock absorption and flexibility. Muscles are relaxed and stretched, relieving painful tension and helping to maintain proper support for the spine. One preliminary study actually showed a dramatic 70.5% reduction in the need for surgery for sciatic pain patients who routinely used a Teeter Inversion Table. After the conclusion of the study, researchers concluded that “intermittent traction with an inversion device resulted in a significant reduction in the need for surgery,” and noted that the potential economic impact to healthcare is “very significant.” Benefits of an Inversion Table While many forms of therapy can only be performed under the professional care, inverted decompression can be done safely and with little effort in the comfort of one’s own home, when using the proper equipment. Teeter Inversion Tables are cleared as a Class 1 medical device by the FDA, indicated for the relief of back pain, sciatica, herniated discs, degenerative joint and disc disease and more. With a variety of models available, offering various bells and whistles, the use of a Teeter Inversion Table remains essentially the same: once you’ve adjusted the table to your unique settings, simply secure your ankles and control your rotation with simple arm movements like a teeter totter. You can control your angle of inversion – lesser angles mean less decompression, greater angles mean greater decompression – effectively allowing you to customizable therapy depending on your needs. Inverting is a quick, easy, and effective way to improve your back health. Learn more about Teeter Inversion Tables here. The information contained in this site is for educational purposes only. Always check with your healthcare professional before starting inversion and make sure your equipment has been evaluated by a third party like Underwriter’s Laboratories (UL) for safe construction and operation. 1. Nguyen, Tran, et.al. “Long-term Outcomes of Lumbar Fusion Among Workers Compensation Subjects: A Historical Cohort Study.” Spine 36, no. 4 (February 15, 2011): 320-31. 2. Manjunath Prasad, K. S., Barbara A. Gregson, Gerard Hargreaves, Tiernan Byrnes, Philip Winburn, and A. David Mendelow. “Inversion Therapy in Patients with Pure Single Level Lumbar Discogenic Disease: A Pilot Randomized Trial.” Disability and Rehabilitation 34.17 (2012): 1473-480. Original article and pictures take https://teetertv.com/blog/relieving-sciatic-nerve-pain-without-surgery/ site