Remedial Massage and Sciatica
Remedial Massage and Sciatica
By Edward John Fearn
More than a few people find sciatica a pain in the butt, or a least that’s one of the more common symptoms. For someone suffering with sciatica pain is usually experienced in the lower back with pain radiating down into the leg. In most cases this pain is only experienced in one side of the body only.
Sciatica is caused by pressure or irritation affecting the sciatic nerve or one of its branches. It is often associated with issues related to the lower lumber to sacral vertebra. The Sciatic nerve itself is quite massive. In fact it is literally the largest and widest nerve in the entire body. It starts in the lower back, goes down through the buttocks then all the way down to the lower leg on both sides. One particular muscle situated quite deep within the buttocks called the piraformis sits directly over the sciatic nerve in most people, and in certain individuals we find that the nerve actually passes threw the muscle itself. Often we find that in sciatica the piraformis muscle can put pressure on sciatic nerve exacerbating the symptoms overall even if the primary cause had originated at the lower vertebra. Piraformis syndrome is a ‘sciatica like condition’ that can also bring about a simular pattern of symptoms. Generally with less lower back involvement though.
Remedial massage can be used as part of the treatment strategy, however if it is used in conjunction with myofascial dry needling the treatment outcomes are significantly improved. Most cases of acute sciatica will settle within a twelve week period at any rate, however rapid spontaneous recovery is quite common with many clients seeing their symptoms disappearing completely in as little as three or four sessions. Light stretching of the lower back and piroformis muscle can help somewhat with symptoms and in many cases light exercise such as swimming can also assist in recovery.
For those people interested in an effective sciatica based exercise plan, a consultation with a physiotherapist and or an exercise physiologist would be highly advantageous.
Although sciatica is never a pleasant condition, the level of pain that is experienced can vary greatly on the individual. For those experiencing extremely high pain levels medication may be needed during this stage and in some rare cases an epidural anaesthetic is required for pain management.
In the majority of cases however a combination of remedial massage and myofascial dry needling can be an effective and beneficial treatment for alleviation and healing of sciatic type pain.
