How to Relieve Sciatic Pain

When you experience a sciatic flare-up, you need to know how to relieve the pain so you can continue with your daily activities. If you have never experienced sciatic pain before, or you have injured yourself see your physician right away. Some treatments can make your pain worse if you don't know the cause.

Instructions

• 1

  Apply cold packs for 20 minutes several times a day. The cold pack can be something as simple as a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel. Use cold therapy for the first 48 hours of the flare-up. Cold packs help reduce inflammation.

• 2

  Use heat therapy after the sharp pains have lessened, usually by days 3 through 7. Heating pads and heat lamps used for 15 minutes several times a day increase the flow of blood which helps speed healing. You can swap heat and cold therapy throughout the day; this may work best for you.

• 3

  Take pain medications to reduce inflammation and help control pain. Acetaminophen such as Tylenol reduces pain, while NSAID's, such as Advil, Aleve and Celebrex reduce pain and inflammation. Acetaminophen and NSAID's can be taken alternately throughout the day, but only until the acute pain subsides. Talk to your physician before starting pain med therapy, as all these medicines have side effects and contraindications.

• 4

  Perform stretch therapy after reducing your pain. Gentle stretching exercises that elongate the sciatic nerve can feel good and help prevent future episodes of sciatica. Your physical therapist can teach you the proper stretching and exercise techniques to speed your recovery and build core strength.