If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to suffer any form of back pain, you know what it really is. Even a mild pain in a sensitive area can render a person immobile due to constant strain. It’s not hard to hurt one’s back – a bad posture, a muscle pull or lifting something wrong; a single wrong move and you can no longer stand or walk like you used to. Those with chronic back pain have it even worse. You have to give up on many day to day activities, and if you’re an athlete or into sports, it is a great setback to your routine workouts and games. Be it acute or chronic, both are very troublesome. Generally, back pain is a term used by people to describe any sort of discomfort in the vertebral region. It may range anywhere from mild to extremely painful, depending on the area and type. One such type of back pain is Sciatica. Sciatica gets its name from the nerve Sciatic, which runs along our lower back to all the way to both the legs. It is usual to experience a sharp pain emerging from the lower back and sometimes extending towards the affected side. Bone spurs, herniated discs, and pinched nerves may be some of the few reasons of sciatic pain. Sciatica is also experienced by some women during pregnancy. This is caused by the position of the foetus which results to a pinched nerve. There are many other types of backaches which aren’t necessarily a result of a compressed nerve. Many backaches are due to muscular strain and pull. You’re bound to have lower back aches if the muscles over there have been subjected to prolonged strain. Often we come across people who can’t find a single comfortable position because of their excruciating pain. Luckily enough, Sciatica takes around four to six weeks to resolve on its own, but in some cases, this can be a very daunting task to just wait it out. Some cases are so extreme that they can’t even get up and walk normally without support or prescribed drugs. There are also some simple remedies and home exercises which provide considerable relief to this back ache. Tennis ball therapy is one of the remedies promising a reduction in the lower back pain. It focuses on the piriformis muscle located in the posterior region of the pelvis, very close to the sciatic nerve. This therapy can be easily performed at your own home. To begin, you need to get an idea of the point of origin of the pain. Place the ball on, or near the place where you feel the pain begins. You can do this after taking a comfortable position, preferably while sitting or lying down. Now place the ball on the points you discovered and slowly move the body so that it works like a compress. Once you get used to this, you can use another ball to work on a larger area. This also reduces the pain caused during the procedure as the pressure is now being distributed over both of the balls. You’ll soon notice your tender spots. Use the ball here for 15-20 seconds a few times daily. This will reduce the muscular tension and gradually reduce the pressure on the sciatic nerve. There is another remedy for lower back pain too. Spicy food items like chilli peppers, jalapenos, and habaneros contain capsaicin which is shown to reduce inflammation. Reducing inflammation may hence reduce the pressure on the sciatic nerve, therefore, lowering the pain. Nevertheless, it is imperative to know the reason behind your Sciatica. It’s not some disease but may be an indication of another complication. For the correct treatment, it needs to be determined if it’s a result of a bone spur or something else. However, you’re in luck if it is due to a pinched nerve or muscle tension as the tennis ball therapy should be good enough to straighten your back again. Source
