Sciatica, a form of back pain, gets its name from the sciatic nerve. This long nerve extends down the lower back, through the buttocks and continues down the back of the legs.

Sciatic pain, or sciatica, is created when the sciatic nerve is pressed upon by a herniated disc. This disc is ruptured so that it bulges out puts painful pressure on a nerve root. This condition is commonly referred to as a pinched nerve.

Sciatica Pain Warning Signs

Knowing the location of the sciatic nerve helps sufferers and pain relief doctors diagnose sciatica. Generally, the pain of sciatica radiates through a leg and/or buttock on only one side of the body. Tingling, shooting pain that's persistent on one side and makes it hard to both sit and stand are signs of sciatica.

Chronic Sciatica Pain

If sciatica pain doesn't subside after a natural healing period of about three months, it's labeled chronic sciatica pain. However, assessing the causes and severity of chronic sciatica pain can be complicated.

Chronic sciatica pain sets off a chain reaction of physical and mental side effects. The persistent stress of chronic sciatica pain can affect the nervous and immune system. Coping with chronic sciatica pain can also bring on depression and cause the brain to perceive even more pain.

Sciatica Pain Management and Pain Relief Treatments

The nerve pressure and inflammation, the basis for most sciatica pain, usually subsides in a few weeks. And fortunately, sciatica isn't associated with permanent damage. The most common sciatica treatments used by doctors are surgery, medicine and natural pain management therapies aimed at reducing the pressure and inflammation of the nerve root.

Surgery for Sciatica Pain Management and Pain Relief

Surgery is often thought to be the final solution to chronic sciatica pain relief. The fact is, for most people, the results are very disappointing. Studies indicate that the long term benefits of surgery for sciatica are no greater than those offered by alternative medicine pain relief professionals.

What's more, individuals who've gone to doctors for a series of surgeries experience a lower level of pain relief with each subsequent operation.

Sciatica Pain Management and Pain Relief Medications

A huge draw back of using medications for sciatica pain relief and management is the risk of addiction over an extended period. Medications can't cure sciatica pain. They're prescribed for the management of natural symptoms like inflammation, spasms, nerve pain and the side effects such as insomnia.

Besides the danger of addiction, continuous use of pain medications can create serious problems like digestive system and liver damage.

An Epidermal Steroid Injection is a step beyond orally administered sciatica pain management medications. This procedure is used to reduce the pain of irritated spinal nerves by directly injecting the anti-inflammatory drug cortisone. Despite the strength of this drug, the success rate of this technique in relieving sciatica pain is only 50%.

Sciatica Natural Pain Management and Pain Relief Therapies

Fortunately, alternative medicine professionals offer sciatica pain sufferers the option of natural pain management and relief therapies without the risks of surgical and pharmaceutical approaches. Besides being more conservative than the medical establishment's methods, natural pain management is just as effective if not more so.

Pain Relief Professionals connects you to natural pain management practitioners of Acupuncture, Chiropractic and Naprapathy. Their state licensed status assures patients that their education and expertise in natural pain management is superior to unregulated alternative medicine healers.

For natural pain management and relief of sciatica, click a button below to find Pain Relief Professionals near you.