Sciatica pain greatly hinders everyday life. It is generally described as a sharp, shooting, burning, stabbing, or electric-like pain that radiates from the lower back, into the buttocks, and down one of the legs. Sciatica pain treatment at home mainly relies on pain-relieving factors as this medical issue is regularly self-healing. There are a variety of home remedies that are considered traditional treatments. However, the use of TENS machines for sciatica pain is now becoming more common. TENS machines can effectively stimulate and block pain signals from reaching your brain with the help of mild electrical impulses. Moreover, it reduces or sometimes completely negates the pain felt. When considering sciatica pain treatment at home, one should keep in mind machines like the iTENS device from iTENS Australia. The iTENS wireless TENS machines are a very effective and viable source of pain management.
What is Sciatica Pain?
Sciatica is pain that results from aggravation or injury of the sciatic nerve (also known as a pinched nerve). It generally describes a symptom that results in pain originating from the lower back and radiating down the leg. It is a shooting, sharp or shock-like type of pain, moving across the course of the affected nerve. Besides the initial symptoms, sciatica can cause liability and numbness on your leg and foot. Moreover, sciatica has more complications than just any pinched nerve. When performing sciatica pain treatment at home, you should know that its causes, some of which include:
- Prolonged sitting (office work)
- Osteoarthritis
- Herniated/slipped disks
- Degenerative disk diseases and trauma to the lumbar spine or sciatic nerve
Now that we are able to determine if you are suffering from sciatica or not, we now need to find ways to treat it and hopefully cure it. Mild sciatica pain usually gets cured on its own over a period of time. And most of the time, it no longer returns. However, it is possible that it comes back with increased frequency and more pain. Sciatica pain treatment at home has many methods. There are more traditional treatments that you can do. Likewise, there is the TENS therapy using TENS machines that have been currently growing in popularity.
Traditional Remedies for Sciatica Pain Treatment at Home
Sciatica pain treatment at home has more traditional methods of pain management such as:
- Medications – ibuprofen, aspirin, steroids and creams
- Exercises – planking and stretches
- Massages
- Ice and Hot Packs
- Acupuncture
- Surgery
These more traditional methods for sciatica pain treatment at home have their own pros and cons. Disadvantages include the possibility of gaining addiction to medications like painkillers. Also, most home remedies can only get you temporary pain relief. TENS therapy using TENS machines, like the iTENS available at iTENS Australia, is becoming the more preferred pain relief option nowadays.
TENS Therapy for Sciatica Pain Treatment at Home
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) therapy using TENS machines is a non-invasive and drug-free option for sciatica pain treatment at home. TENS machines work by blocking the pain signals from reaching the brain through the use of electrical impulses. Those specific signals prevent pain impulses from travelling along nerves and causes endorphins to be released. Endorphins are painkillers that exist naturally within the body. Furthermore, TENS therapy helps improve circulation in the area. Thus, pad placement is an integral factor to consider. Improving circulation is essential as it increases blood flow around the sciatic nerve. It can considerably lessen flare-ups and aid in maintaining a healthy nervous system.
Pad Placement
For sciatica pain treatment at home, you can try varying pad placements to discover the most effective pain relief that best suits you. TENS machine pads placement is crucial when using TENS therapy for pain relief. Placing the pads around the paid point is the most recommended. Moreover, you can set the pads on your lower back area near the point of pain. To relieve sciatica pain coming from the leg, you can place the pads on the back of your legs. You can try to adjust the intensity level as you see fit. Furthermore, you may move the pads around to attain the best position for your specific pain relief experience.
TENS therapy using TENS machines like the iTENS provides you with instant pain relief. If you are trying TENS therapy for the first time, you should initially set the program’s intensity to the lowest level. The iTENS device is completely wireless and has pads shaped like butterfly wings making pad placement as flexible and effortless as possible. These iTENS features can help you effectively perform sciatica pain treatment at home.
Benefits of the iTENS for Sciatica Pain Treatment at Home
Using the iTENS unit for sciatica pain treatment at home will have several benefits compared to using other, more traditional methods. Traditional methods like icing and hot packs have limiting factors that affect the effectiveness of their treatment. Limiting factors include limited treatment time due to temperature dissipation and only having a little time until their pain-relieving effects wear out. Devices like the iTENS machine, available at iTENS Australia, directly tackle these issues. You can experience safe TENS therapy 2-3 times a day at any time of the day using the iTENS machines. Additionally, their effects last from 5 hours up to 18 hours.
Its portability and easy-to-use features are other benefits of owning a TENS machine like the iTENS device. Furthermore, using it for sciatica pain treatment at home can be reliably advantageous. The iTENS, being wireless, can be used in almost any situation, whether getting ready for work, doing household chores or even while eating. Having a wireless option completely negates the need to stay in one position during your TENS therapy sessions and could drastically improve the quality of life for those who want to do more but can’t because of the pain they’re feeling. The iTENS machine also comes with ready-to-use pre-set settings that you can set manually or through an iOS or Android device, making it effortless to operate.
Conclusion
Owning a personal iTENS wireless TENS machine is cost-effective. It can completely negate the need to pay by the hour for pain management therapy sessions. Sciatica pain treatment at home and other types of pain or injury treatment are now as effective and efficient as ever with machines like the iTENS wireless device to help during the recovery process. A TENS device could prove to be an invaluable investment for anyone suffering from sciatica or any other type of pain. TENS therapy with the iTENS successfully reduces many individuals’ chronic pain (continuous or long-term pain). Furthermore, indications suggest that TENS therapy with iTENS can even lower the degree of acute pain (pain of early development and short-term pain). The iTENS device is FDA approved, making it a highly effective, safe, and reliable personal pain relief device.
