Contents
Food and Nutrition
Foods to be taken
- Magnesium-rich foods include dairy products, fish, meat, seafood, apples, apricots, brown rice, beans etc.
- Foods containing significant amounts of vitamin B12 like liver, oysters, lamb and cheese also might be beneficial in treating your sciatic nerve pain.
- Include foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which include salmon, sardines, herrings and mackerel etc.
- Vitamins A, such as milk, cheese and curd, carrots, dark green leafy vegetables, orange-colored fruits, e.g. mangoes and apricots, fortified margarine, eggs, mackerel and other oily fish.
- Vitamin C is found in fruits especially citrus, regular and sweet potatoes, cabbage, spinach broccoli, tomatoes, and green and yellow vegetables.
- Adequate Potassium is equally important in managing sciatica as it provides toughness to the muscles and helps in neurotransmission, food rich in potassium are white beans, dark leafy greens, potatoes, apricots, avocados, mushrooms, fish(salmon) and Banana.
Foods to be avoided
- All the flour and refined sugars that terribly wear nervous system.
- Don’t drink cow’s milk and eat derivatives, fried sausages and processed or junk food.
Yoga and Exercise
- Stretch exercises
- Knee to chest stretch
- Sciatic mobilizing stretch
- Back extensions
- Standing hamstring stretch
- Lying deep gluteal stretch
YOGA
- Apanasana watch video
- Supine crescent pose watch video
- Jathara parivritti watch video
- Bhujangasana (cobra pose) watch video
Music and Meditation
Transcendental meditation technique (involves the use of a mantra and is practiced for 15-20 minutes twice per day while sitting with one eye closed).Home Remedies
- Ice packs, or a simple package of frozen peas wrapped in a towel, can work wonders to provide instant relief for sciatica. Apply the packs directly on the affected area for 20 minutes, every two hours, until the pain is completely gone.
- Ice packs are a proven way to get instant relief, but the sciatic nerve is located deep in the body, so the packs cannot go deeper to where the inflammation is located. Apply a hot pack, right after the ice pack or better yet, take a hot bath. By alternating the temperatures, you can boost the circulation and lymph flow. This will reduce the deeper inflammation and aid in the healing process. For even better results, add some Epsom salts or anti-inflammatory herbs or essential oils to your bath.
- Deeper messaging or trigger-point therapies have shown great success in the treatment of muscle spasms, pain, and numbness in the legs and toes. Herb-infused oils and essential oils will also give you good results.
- Last, but not least, try to get enough sleep. In doing so, this will give your nerves and body time to relax, heal and balance. Extra sleep and rest will help rebuild and strengthen your nerves.
- Avoid constipation