Do you suffer from sciatic nerve pain? You should know then the frustration that having this condition brings to many people. The sciatic nerve is a large nerve that extends from the spine down through the pelvis, and then across the gluteus muscles. After that it goes down the leg and into the Tibial nerve and then to the Common Pernoneal nerve. Along the way if there is any impingement (pinching) at all there will be irritation and severe pain at times. Anyone with this pain knows how chronic and severe it can be, and finding relief is of utmost importance to living a normal life again.

What are the symptoms of sciatic nerve? Of course this can vary from one person to the next, in severity and location of the pain. However in most cases it is a mild to severe pain located either down the back of the leg, the side of the leg, the hips, or sometimes even in the groin area. At times the pain can be severe enough to make walking or even sitting difficult. Problems with the sciatic nerve are one of the most frequent causes of hip, lower back, and leg pain that are reported to doctors.

So what actually causes sciatic nerve pain? This is a question that isn’t easily answered in all cases, since the exact cause can be different from one person to the next. However the general cause is the imbalance of muscles in the hip area. This is brought about when you have over-developed and tense muscles in one area or side of your body, while the opposing muscles are somewhat weaker and more stretched out of their normal location. This causes swelling and inflammation of the nerve and surrounding tissue, which is not easily corrected.

Traditional pain medications are merely a temporary solution, they can reduce swelling temporarily but the cause of the problem will not go away. The root of the problem must be dealt with in order to remove the imbalance of muscles, otherwise the pain will return quite quickly once the medication wears off. Finding a way to return the muscles underlying the nerve is the real solution for long term relief of sciatic nerve pain.

So what is the best solution to long term relief to this problem of sciatic nerve treatment? Some type of physical therapy to return the hip joint and thus the muscles to their proper position is normally recommended, this can be accomplished in several ways. Somatic Re-Education and neuromuscular re-education are both techniques used typically by chiropractors to help realign the components of the spine that are out of place. This will help the muscles get back to the normal position and relive the pressure that is caused by the abnormal position of the muscles.

Certain exercises are sometimes also recommend in place of intense therapy by a chiropractor, such as stretching that eventually returns the muscles to their naturally placement. This can help strengthen the weaker muscles involved, and return them to normal and thus relieve the pain. It is recommended to find a physical therapist to guide you as the wrong type of exercises can make the matter even worse in some cases.