Sciatic nerve- the largest of the nerves in the human body. The diameter of an average adult man is up to 1 cm. Thanks to it, the motor function of the lower extremities is provided. It takes its beginning in the small pelvis, leaves the pelvis through the pear-shaped opening, passes between the bundles of gluteal muscles along the back of the thigh, descending in the middle to the level of the popliteal fossa, diverges into small branches.
Damage to this nerve causes severe discomfort for a person, loss of ability to work, limitation of mobility and activity.
The main causes of the disease
Neuritis sciatic nerve (sciatica) - inflammation of the nerve itself and, more rarely, the involvement of the spinal roots in the process. Sciatica is a term that refers to pain in the hip and lower back. More often it is one-sided, the left leg is more often pinched.
Most often, sciatica is preceded by pathology of the spine - osteochondrosis, herniated disc, inflammation of the gluteal muscle. All these reasons cause pinching of the sciatic nerve.
Osteochondrosis is the most common cause of sciatica and pinch neuralgia, with damage occurring at the level of the lower back and sacrum.
The next series of reasons is hypothermia, physical overload, muscle spasm.
Rare causes, but which should be remembered: blood clots, abscesses, Lyme disease, fibromyalgia.
Sciatica can occur during pregnancy, in later stages due to an increase in the load on the spine.
Infectious diseases that can cause sciatic nerve neuritis are influenza and tuberculosis.
Sciatic nerve neuritis symptoms
The main symptom of sciatica is stabbing pain in the back of the thigh. It's getting hard to walk. In the supine and sitting position, movement is limited. When examining such patients, the doctor determines the points, upon pressing which the patient experiences the patient. The symptom of "tension" is checked - the patient is placed in such positions in which the sciatic nerve is stretched and the patient begins to experience severe pain. Symptoms of decreased sensitivity.
Such pain occurs after hypothermia, physical overstrain, infection, myositis.
How to differentiate pain caused by nerve damage from pain caused by a pathology of the spine?
If the pain on the back of the thigh is provoked by osteochondrosis, the symptoms will be less pronounced, increasing over time. It will start with slight tingling and numbness in the back of the thigh. In this case, the sensitivity and range of motion will not be disturbed.
How to treat sciatica in a hospital setting?
A good result from the treatment is achieved only with complex treatment.
Treat with electrophoresis, which is one of the best treatments for sciatica in a hospital setting. It can be combined with novoikain, vitamins, etc. It gives a very good result.
Treating the sciatic nerve at home. For local treatment, irritating ointments are used. These include “ Finalgon ". We use it to rub the affected area. Relieves inflammation, relieves moderate pain .
Can be treated with bee venom ointments. These include " Viprosal ". It has a good analgesic effect.
Ointments based on herbal ingredients, containing essential oils, such as "Karmolis". Used to relieve pain.
Drugs that relieve inflammation - diclofenac, indomethacin, ibufen ... They are used both in tablets and in injections. With severe pain syndrome, injections with painkillers can be used. Injections are used only for the first few days. Further, preference is given to local medicines.
In parallel with this, physiotherapy is prescribed, such as massotherapy , UV irradiation and physiotherapy exercises are needed already at the stage of recovery. As physiotherapy exercises it is necessary to give preference to exercises for stretching the muscles adjacent to the sciatic nerve. You can use yoga exercises. Do not forget that even with restorative gymnastics after sciatica, you need to do exercises for all muscle groups.
In severe cases, severe pain syndrome should be treated with novocaine blockade.
Massage will help restore conduction along nerve fibers as soon as possible, improve blood circulation and lymph outflow
For sciatica, two types of massage are used: acupressure and vacuum. Acupressure massage is the safest for health. Thanks to this type of massage, the cartilage tissue is quickly restored. The analgesic effect is moderately pronounced. Reduces inflammation and symptoms.
Massage therapy should be used as a preventive measure. In the acute and subacute period, it cannot be prescribed. Massage can only be entrusted to a specialist; self-medication is not worth it.
- It is necessary to sit at the table no more than 2 hours.
- Find a comfortable chair to relieve the lumbar spine.
- Don't slouch.
- Legs should be straight.
- With a sedentary lifestyle, you need to do exercises every hour.
- Normalize weight.
- Going in for sports, the most favorable sport for the back is swimming.
- The diet should be balanced, limit the intake of salt and fatty foods.
- Choose orthopedic shoes.
- There should be an orthopedic mattress on the bed.
Sciatica treatment with folk remedies at home
Sciatica can be cured at home using the following methods:
- bathrooms;
- compresses;
- tinctures;
- decoctions.
It is necessary to treat with compresses and baths at the stage when the acute period has passed.
Sciatic nerve treatment folk remedies. Natural remedies for inflammation , are aspen and calendula leaves .
To treat at home, an infusion of aspen leaves is made. To do this, use a spoonful of aspen leaves per liter of boiling water. You need to drink before every meal. 10 days.
The second effective remedy is calendula tincture. Here we use a spoonful of herbs in a glass of boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes. Drink in two doses. Infusions are taken for about 14 days to relieve inflammation and consolidate the effect.
You need to treat in parallel and rubbing, for this you can use badger fat, alcoholic tincture of birch buds .
Treatment of the sciatic nerve with folk remedies using hot compresses beeswax
... Preliminarily, the back of the thigh must be grinded. Further, after applying wax, you need to wrap your thigh with a blanket or woolen scarf. Relieves symptoms.
For compresses, you can use fir oil
rubbing the back of the thigh with it, wrap it up with a scarf.
Another recipe for pinching the sciatic nerve when treating at home: treat horseradish compresses
... It is necessary to grate horseradish root and potatoes in equal proportions. Add a spoonful of honey. We wrap all this in gauze and put it on the affected area under a warm blanket. Such compresses can be done no earlier than every other day. No more than 5 times per treatment cycle.
Bathrooms can be used with essential oils or various herbs. Horseradish root need to be crushed, wrapped in cheesecloth and dipped in the bathroom. Bathrooms are taken every day for 10 days.
Sciatica treatment at home should be comprehensive!
Prevention is one of the important points to prevent recurrence of sciatica. Strengthen your back muscles and stretch your leg muscles. Physical education should be regular. After suffering sciatica, you do not need to burden yourself with heavy exercises. Dress warmly to prevent hypothermia. Wear comfortable shoes. Do a preventive massage. The more carefully preventive measures are taken, the less chances of getting sciatica again.
In the human body, there are two sciatic nerves at once - they begin in the lumbar region.
Going down, along the back of the thigh, they branch into two branches - the tibial and peroneal, and then into the smaller nerves.
The sciatic nerve has a direct connection with many human organs.
Sciatic nerve problems: causes and diagnosis
Today there is an interesting theory on this topic. Knowing the reasons why sciatic nerve problems occur can be easily prevented.
Almost every person who is faced with a pinched sciatic nerve knows that this disease cannot be cured. Almost all treatment methods are aimed at temporarily relieving pain.
The main problem is that a person can no longer control the tone of the dorsal, gluteal and piriformis muscles. When spasms occur, severe pain occurs in the spine, limbs and back.
Amazingly, with all the opportunity to freely tense their muscles, a person cannot relax them.
Psychological reasons
This whole process completely controls the brain, its structure takes responsibility for the emotional state of a person, since the vessels, and everything internal organs are under the complete control of the cerebral hemispheres and the trunk.
Negative emotions, even minor ones, can lead to muscle tension, while positive ones, on the contrary, can lead to relaxation.
In order for you to be fully convinced that this is a true theory, you can consider one interesting nuance.
Men and women differ slightly in the structure of organisms, the difference can be observed in the functioning of the brain.
The question will surely arise: "How is it all interconnected?" In fact, everything is easily explained - from here it is clear that there is a difference in the localization of sciatic nerve diseases.
According to statistics, in 80% of men, pain always extends to the left side of the buttocks and the left leg.
In women, the opposite is true, and the pain is felt on the right side. In the same way as the degree of development of the hemispheres, for example, in men, the left hemisphere is best developed, and in women, the right. Exactly this distribution occurs when stressful situations arise.
If there are experiences, negative emotions, then in men spasm occurs when the left sciatic nerve is stressed, and in women, on the contrary, the right one.
Physical reasons
Besides psychological reasons, others may appear, which lead to such a short-term illness as inflammation or pinching of the sciatic nerve:
1. Hernia of the spine - in the presence of a hernia or displacement of the vertebrae, a complication may occur, namely pinching of the sciatic nerve.
2. Osteochondrosis is the most common cause.
3. Diabetes mellitus.
4. Injuries to the spinal column - bruises or dislocations during a fall.
5. Load on the entire spinal column - physical exertion can lead to muscle overstrain.
6. The nerve is pinched by a thrombus.
7. Infectious diseases.
8. Pregnancy.
As a rule, there are always several reasons. Diseases associated with the sciatic nerve are more likely to occur at a more mature age. Children do not suffer from such a disease.
Diagnostics
After the first symptoms appear, you need to immediately contact a neurologist and begin treatment for such an unpleasant ailment. During the examination, the doctor may observe the following:
1. The mobility of the knees and joints of the feet is reduced.
2. After lifting up a straight leg, severe pain occurs.
3. The skin is too dry.
4. Sweating.
5. Vegetative disorders.
In order to accurately establish the diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate treatment, experts prescribe an additional study, which is as follows:
1. Computed tomography.
2. Ultrasound of the affected area.
3. General and biochemical blood test.
In some cases, you may need to consult other specialists - a rheumatologist or vascular surgeon:
1. Body temperature rises to 38 for no reason.
2. The pain affects new areas of the body.
3. Swelling and redness forms on the back.
4. In the area of the legs, pelvis, numbness may be observed.
5. Problems with urination.
All this requires careful examination and study. Only then can the specialists prescribe the right treatment to relieve the pain.
Sciatic nerve treatment at home: basic principles
Experts insist that as soon as a disease has been detected, you need to see a specialist as soon as possible and start treatment.
Quite a lot of those people who suffer from problems with the sciatic nerve, they all ask one single question, is it possible to treat the sciatic nerve at home. Of course, you can relieve the symptoms of the disease and get rid of it for a while. As a rule, treatment always takes place in two stages:
1. The first stage involves relieving the patient's pain.
2. At the second stage, they find out the cause that influenced the pinching, after which all actions should be aimed at eliminating it.
Drug therapy is used. Many people choose to seek help traditional medicine, and in many cases everything is not ineffective. But we'll talk about this below.
Sciatic nerve treatment at home: medications
After having problems with the sciatic nerve, you need to see a neurologist. After a complete examination and diagnosis, he will prescribe treatment therapy.
Physiotherapy
Thanks to physiotherapy, you can get rid of pain, but it is unlikely that it will be possible to completely eliminate the cause of the development of the disease. A specialist can prescribe a wide variety of procedures - laser therapy, phonophoresis, electrosleep, anti-inflammatory drugs, UHF therapy and much more. Under the influence of physiotherapy procedures, blood circulation is normalized, the pain will subside, the swelling will be removed.
Massage
At the moment when the disease has subsided, it is useful to do a general massage. It is also recommended to visit the procedures of acupuncture, acupressure, Kuznetsov's applicator. Thanks to this, pain will subside, lymph drainage will improve, muscle wasting will be prevented.
Pain relief and anti-inflammatory therapy
The most effective pain relievers, according to many experts, are NSAIDs. These include - Diclofenac, Ibuprofen, Ketorolac. Since the data medications have an irritating effect on the gastric mucosa, they must be taken with extreme caution. If the pain gets worse every day and it becomes more difficult to endure, steroid hormonal drugs may be prescribed.
Physiotherapy
The simplest, at first glance, activities, for example, cycling, stretching, are quite effective. But you need to perform these exercises only during the period of remission. Try not to strain, do everything right.
Spa treatment
During the period when nothing bothers you, mud and hydrotherapy are effective. This helps to strengthen the immune system.
Treatment of the sciatic nerve at home with any medication is best done only after a doctor prescribes them. You can only take some pain relievers on your own to relieve pain before seeing a doctor.
Sciatic nerve treatment at home: folk remedies
Before starting the treatment of the sciatic nerve at home, you need to visit a medical facility and identify the cause of the development of the disease. As mentioned above, a number of diagnostic measures will be carried out, which include magnetic resonance imaging and x-rays of the spine. If no neoplasms have been identified, intervertebral hernia, then you can try to heal the sciatic nerve yourself. It is worth using only time-tested recipes, they are not only effective, but also completely safe.
For the treatment of the sciatic nerve at home, a number of alternative medicine recipes are provided, these include the following:
Taking medicinal baths;
Reception of tinctures and decoctions;
Rubs and ointments.
The main task of each such remedy is to relieve pain syndrome, as well as inflammation.
The surest and most reliable way to treat the sciatic nerve is bed rest, as well as warmth, in any form. This also includes a relaxing massage, reflex therapy, with which strong irritating agents are used.
In order to prepare rubbing or compresses, you can use effective recipes presented below:
1. Collect the sprouts from the potatoes, separate one glass from them, fill it with 0.5 liter of vodka and put it in a dark room. The tincture should be infused for exactly two weeks, but it is advisable to shake the container every other day. After the tincture is ready, rub it into the patient's sore spot, after which it is recommended to wrap yourself in something warm.
2. Prepare a medicinal herbal balm, for this you need to take the following ingredients - one spoonful of celandine, a small leaf of aloe (it must be over three years old), one pod of hot pepper (grind it well beforehand), about half a liter of vodka. Mix everything and remove to infuse in a dark place for one week. It is recommended to rub the prepared product into sore spots.
3. Extract the juice from the radish and mix it in a 1: 1 ratio with honey. The resulting product should be smeared with sore spots.
4. To prepare this recipe, you need a little culinary ability. Take three glasses of rye flour and three tablespoons of honey, knead the dough from all this and roll a cake. It should be applied to the place where the pain is most felt. Try to keep it like mono for longer, wrap it up with something warm on top.
Oral recipes
Treatment of the sciatic nerve at home involves not only the use of ointments and compresses, but also means intended for oral administration. The recipes below were also used by our grandmothers:
Take two to three tablespoons of calendula flowers and pour 400 ml of hot water over them. Leave in the container for two hours. Every time you sit down to eat, take half a glass of tincture;
Place one spoonful of burdock root in a saucepan (chop it beforehand) and cover with a glass of red wine. Turn on the heat and boil the product for no more than 5 minutes. Need to take medicine half a glass, no more than twice a day;
Take a spoonful of elecampane and pour a glass of hot water. Put on fire and let it simmer for 20 minutes. It is recommended to take only in case of a chronic form of the disease, twice a day, about an hour before meals.
Thanks to the use of folk remedies, you can get rid of unbearable pain, and the effect can be achieved in a short time.
Each remedy presented above can be used either alone or in combination with other treatments.
Remember that this is a serious medical condition that causes a lot of discomfort and pain. There is no need to delay with his treatment.
Quite often, people with spinal pathologies are faced with a situation when it is necessary to treat inflammation and pinching of the sciatic nerve.
Usually such signs are observed after physical exertion or hypothermia.
A doctor should analyze the symptoms and treatment of the sciatic nerve at home.
Causes
The defeat of the sciatic nerve develops against the background of osteochondrosis, traumatic injuries, inflammatory lesions of the joints. Also, this condition can appear with benign or malignant formations in the area of localization of the nerve.
The provoking factors can be circulatory disorders and venous thrombosis of the pelvic organs.
The sciatic nerve becomes inflamed against the background of pinching, which develops during degenerative processes in the spine, bone deformities, and intervertebral hernia.
The following factors can be provocateurs of the onset of the disease:
Also, inflammation can develop with deformation of the bones - coxarthrosis. In this case, excessive pressure is created on the nerve, provoking pain.
Sciatica. What to do if pain “shoots”
Sciatica can develop under the influence of such factors:
- violation of posture;
- hypothermia;
- rachiocampsis;
- increased loads;
- flat feet, which provokes an imbalance in the skeleton;
- improper execution of an injection in the buttock.
Quite often, pinching of the sciatic nerve during pregnancy is observed. Pathology appears under the influence of several provoking factors.
Signs
Symptoms and treatment of sciatic nerve inflammation are the prerogative of the doctor. This condition can be suspected by the following manifestations:
Pain syndrome can be of a different nature. In some cases, it is burning and shooting, in others - stabbing, pulling and aching.
Typically, pain manifests itself in the form of seizures... This means that after severe discomfort, comparative calm is observed.
Another characteristic manifestation of pathology is the direction of discomfort. The pain appears in the lower back and gradually descends below, covering the entire limb to the very fingers.
If severe discomfort affects both legs, bilateral neuralgia is diagnosed.... This process is especially painful, but it is observed quite rarely. Usually, sensations such as goosebumps, numbness and tingling appear in the second limb.
In difficult situations, signs of pinching include very severe pain. It paralyzes the patient, resulting in a complete loss of motor activity. Any attempt to move the body provokes severe spasms.
The patient cannot sleep, bend over, or even stand. This is due to the structure of the sciatic nerve, which contains many sensitive receptors.
The acute form of sciatica is characterized by intense pain syndrome, which exhausts a person, interfering with his usual lifestyle. With the development of a chronic process, discomfort becomes aching. This causes tingling and numbness in the legs.
Many people are interested in how to treat the sciatic nerve. Since the main symptom of the disease is pain, the main task of therapy lies in relieving discomfort.
How to relieve pain? Drug treatment includes the following components:
With intense pain syndrome, a blockade can be used. The doctor will tell you what injections to use in this case. Only a specialist will be able to find safe pain relievers.
To improve the patient's condition, the sciatic nerve is treated with folk remedies. In such a situation, the following recipes are most effective:
To answer the question how to unlock pinched nerve, you can advise exercise therapy. Special gymnastics helps to strengthen muscles and prevent pain... Loads should be gradual. As the muscles get stronger, more challenging exercises can be done.
In this case, excessive loads on the beam should be avoided. As a result of the exercise, there should be no discomfort or pain. The main goal of gymnastics is to maintain muscle tone, restore blood circulation and relieve inflammation.
Any complex can be combined with feasible loads. Hiking, cycling and swimming are great options..
It is advisable that the set of exercises was made by a doctor or instructor. Also, a specialist will be able to tell you how to breathe and move correctly. After that, you can start exercising at home.
Answering the question of how to treat a disease, one cannot fail to mention massage. It should be done by a professional who has the appropriate qualifications. Performing the procedure on your own can cause undesirable consequences.
The massage is prescribed by the doctor. In this case, the procedure is carried out in courses that will not be effective enough if they are not completed. Each course must have at least 11 procedures.
For medicinal purposes, acupressure is prescribed, which affects specific areas. It helps to cope with pain, restore blood circulation and normalize health.
At the same time, acupressure provides an effect on the site of inflammation and relaxation of a specific muscle group. Along with this, other muscles are strained and blood circulation in the affected area is stimulated.
Sciatica. Two super cool exercises for acute pain
What should people with this diagnosis do? Doctors advise adhering to these recommendations:
Symptoms and treatment of a pinched sciatic nerve at home should be reviewed by a physician.
Don't drink uncontrollably medications or apply folk recipes ... If the rules of therapy are violated, there is a risk of serious deterioration in health.
The sciatic nerve hurts - what to do? The principles will be discussed in detail below. You will also learn about why this disease occurs and what are its symptoms.
Basic information
Infringement which is difficult to miss, as well as lumbar sciatica, accompanied by pinching of the roots of the sacral region, represent the same disease. Pain syndrome with it is localized in the thigh, lumbar region, foot and lower leg. It also gets worse when walking and coughing.
At the very beginning of the development of the disease, it proceeds according to the type of lumbago, lumbodynia or lumboischialgia.
It should be said that sciatica is a synonym for this pathological condition. In medical practice, it is also called neuritis, inflammation, or its main symptom is back pain, which radiates to the leg.
In the absence of proper treatment, the pain syndrome with such a disease is weak and unbearable. In the latter case, the sick person can neither sleep nor stay awake normally.
Main reasons
Why does sciatic nerve entrapment occur (symptoms of this condition will be presented below)? Modern medicine claims that such a disease can be associated with mechanical (for example, hernia, displacement of the vertebrae or osteochondrosis) or temperature (for example, severe hypothermia) factors.
It should also be noted that in some cases this pathological phenomenon occurs due to a tumor, Reiter's syndrome, infection, etc.
In addition to the listed diseases, pain in the buttock, radiating to the leg, may be associated with the development of the following pathologies: 
- Sciatica, accompanied by compression of nerve fibers by hematoma or post-injection abscesses.
- Sciatica, accompanied by tunnel neuropathies (including the syndrome
- Neuropathy associated with metabolic disorders (including alcoholism, diabetes mellitus, etc.).
- Sciatic nerve injury due to improper injection, hip and pelvic fractures.
- Sciatica, which developed against the background of neuropathy under the influence of certain toxic substances.
Before telling you about how to cure, you should tell that most often adults suffer from such a disease. Sciatica develops much less often at the age of 20-26 years. In addition, this disease can occur in the last months of pregnancy due to the fact that the load on the spinal column of the future woman in labor increases significantly.
Other causes of occurrence
Why does sciatica occur (symptoms and treatment of this disease will be presented later)? There are many reasons for the development of this disease. The most common factors are:
Location
Where does the sciatic nerve hurt? What is its location? Experts say that these are two of the longest and largest nerves in the human body. They run on either side of the lower back to the toes of the lower extremities.
As a rule, with inflammation of this nerve, the patient begins to worry about pain in only one of them, localized behind the thigh, in the gluteus muscle, and also behind the knee along the calf, up to the foot.
The main symptoms
How is sciatica manifested? Few are aware of the symptoms and treatment of this disease. With neuritis, pain can be burning, stabbing, sharp and cutting. They can appear suddenly and just as suddenly disappear. In more severe cases, the inflammation is chronic.
Usually, these attacks occur after physical or emotional stress. They can also bother after hypothermia.
Along the course of the nerve with such a disease, sensitivity may be impaired. skin and appear tingling, numbness, goosebumps, etc.
Other signs
Pain in the buttock, radiating to the leg, is the main symptom of the disease in question. Also, pain syndrome can extend along the back of the thigh, gradually dropping to the foot and lower leg.
After an attack, discomfort remains between the 1st sacral and 5th lumbar vertebrae as well as in the center of the buttocks and under the knee. 
Due to the strongest pain syndrome, a person can lose consciousness. In addition, he may experience autonomic disorders such as excessive sweating of the legs, redness of the skin, and edema.
When the sciatic nerve is pinched, the pain may increase with prolonged walking, standing, and also when sitting on a hard surface. To improve his condition, the patient takes a forced position of the body, in which he rests on a healthy lower limb. Therefore, one of the signs of the disease in question is gait disturbance.
In the case of severe inflammation of the sciatic fiber, the symptoms are expressed in a complete violation or a strong decrease in nerve function. With such a disease, the femoral, gluteus, or gastrocnemius muscle may even decrease. In this case, the patient experiences difficulties when trying to bend the lower leg, toes, or turn the foot. This is due to the temporary immobilization of muscle tissue on the back of the thigh.
Diagnostics
The sciatic nerve hurts - what to do? First, you should contact a neurologist. Before prescribing treatment, a specialist must find out the cause of the development of pain in the sciatic nerve region. Only after that he can conduct an adequate diagnosis, because sciatica is only a syndrome that can accompany completely different pathological conditions.
First of all, the neurologist examines the patient, checking his reflexes on the legs by tapping with a hammer. It also determines the sensitivity on the skin, which allows you to assess the degree of damage to the NA.
So what if the sciatic nerve hurts? What to do with such a pathological condition in order to identify the cause of its development? To make a diagnosis, the most accessible and simple method is radiography. It is the picture taken that can confirm or exclude serious bone changes.
In the event that such a diagnosis is not enough, a specialist may recommend an MRI or CT scan. 
If a tumor is suspected, it is possible to use a radioisotope scan of the spinal column. Most often, this procedure is recommended for people who have been taking corticosteroids for a long time, as well as for HIV-infected patients.
The sciatic nerve hurts - what to do?
With the development of such a disease, treatment should be trusted only by a qualified neurologist. Modern medicine provides several ways to treat sciatica. Let's consider them in more detail.
Physiotherapy
According to experts, this method of treatment helps to significantly reduce pain, but does not eliminate the true cause of the disease. The doctor can prescribe to his patient such procedures as electrophoresis with vitamins, antispasmodics, anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants, as well as phonophoresis, UHF therapy, laser or magnetic laser therapy, paraffin applications, electrosleep, UFO of the affected area, etc.
As practice shows, the action of physiotherapy significantly improves blood circulation, and also relieves pain and swelling.
Reflexology and massage
How to heal the sciatic nerve? During the abatement of the acute inflammatory process, general and cupping massage, moxibustion and acupuncture sessions, and acupressure are highly effective. It should also be noted that the use of "needles" - - helps to significantly relieve pain and remove excessive muscle tension.
According to neurologists, absolutely any type of reflexology and massage can improve lymph flow, reduce pain, restore nerve function and prevent muscle wasting. 
Medicines
What injections are prescribed for the sciatic nerve, pathologically inflamed? The most effective are non-steroidal pain relievers. They are drugs that are able to stop the action of the COX enzyme and have a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect.
So what medications treat the sciatic nerve? Preparations related to the mentioned pharmacological group, are sold in all pharmacies. As they are usually used "Diclofenac", "Ibuprofen", "Indomethacin", "Ortofen", "Sulindak", "Ceberex", "Ketorolac" and "Naproxen". All of these drugs have an irritating effect on the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract and negatively affect the kidneys, as well as reduce blood clotting. In this regard, their use should be limited.
Also, with inflammation of the sciatic nerve, a neurologist may prescribe vitamins (especially B vitamins), mineral complexes and medications that improve blood circulation and metabolic processes, and also relax muscle tissue.
Physiotherapy
For sciatica, even the simplest exercises are very effective. However, they should be performed only after the acute process subsides, that is, during periods of remission.
Gymnastics should be done slowly and smoothly, without much stress. 
In acute sciatica, the patient should be kept in bed. In this case, it is advisable to use a hard mattress. It is also necessary to limit physical activity (until the acute inflammation subsides). In addition, it is possible to alternately use heating pads and ice, massage in the area of pain localization and other things.
This phenomenon is more often one-sided, but both lower extremities may be affected. Sciatica begins from the so-called lumbago - sharp pain in the buttock and sacral region The pain then spreads on the lower back and leg, up to the foot. They can arise as periodically so bother constantly, increasing during movement and weakening at rest.
Pain has character impulses, and in intensity varies from bearable to very strong.
Sciatica causes are various diseases of the spine and nerve damage:
- mechanical injury upon impact, fall or sudden movement, as a result of which the displaced vertebrae pinch the nerve;
- intervertebral hernia;
- sacral and lumbar (dystrophy of the cartilaginous tissue of the intervertebral discs leads to displacement of the vertebrae);
- spinal column tumors;
- hypothermia;
- incorrectly executed intramuscular injection(the nerve is touched by the needle);
- infectious diseases, in which the toxins of the pathogen affect the nervous tissue, as well as viruses that affect the nervous system.
It is quite difficult to establish the cause on your own, so you need to contact a surgeon or neurologist for help. The treatment regimen directly depends on the factors that caused the disease.
How can sciatica be treated at home?
With a sudden sharp pain in the gluteal muscle, characteristic of the entrapment of the sciatic nerve, you should lie on your stomach and place it under your head for convenience a small pillow... You can accept an effective analgesic (Ibuprofen or Diclofenac), and also use ointments for pain relief.
After examination and examination (X-ray), the doctor prescribes drug therapy course... It usually consists of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, supplemented, if necessary, with analgesics. If the nerve tissue is affected as a result of an infection, special medications are used. Sciatica is treated on an outpatient basis while medications are complemented by other methods available at home.
Massage
Very effective remedy from many diseases of the spine. A good massage therapist can relieve pain in just a few sessions. It is advisable to massage the affected areas daily, for at least half an hour, for 10 days... Such a course will restore blood circulation, innervation, relieve inflammation and will help to correct the offset discs.
You can do massage and with severe symptoms(in the acute phase), limited to stroking and gentle rubbing. More intense impact only possible in the absence of sharp pain... If the cause of sciatica was the pathology of the lumbar region (hernia or osteochondrosis), then this area should be massaged mainly.
Physiotherapy
The main direction of physiotherapy for pinching the sciatic nerve is warming up the affected area... Shown at home hot sitz baths: This method will relieve the most severe pain if taken twice a day. Effective is also the effect infrared radiation m (using appropriate devices). The tissues are heated deep enough, which allows you to quickly get rid of unpleasant symptoms. Good healing effect render wax and paraffin applications.
Gymnastics (video)
Exercise is a great way to treat various diseases of the musculoskeletal system. You can perform a special complex for sciatica only after relieving symptoms of the acute phase exercising caution. The most effective exercises are:
- In a prone position(on) with straightened legs you need smoothly pull your knees to your chest... Having fixed in this position for a couple of seconds, return to the starting position. Repeat 10 times.
- Raising the torso performed also lying down, but on the stomach. Performed hands free(they are located along the body), slowly and carefully. 5 reps are enough.
- Torso turns useful for the lumbar region. They are performed sitting on a chair, while the legs rest on the floor, the arms are located at the waist.
- A good effect is given by alternate tilts of the body to the left and right in a standing position. You need to do at least 10 repetitions.
In the process of performing a set of exercises, you must not make sudden movements or exceed the specified number of repetitions. If a sharp pain appears, the exercise should be stopped immediately.