Sciatica pain self treatment exercises need not be especially complicated to be useful. In most cases, they can be performed successfully at home and can often reduce or eliminate the need for professional care. Whether or not utilized alone or in addition to professional kinds of care, simple sciatic nerve pain exercises and self-care techniques can frequently make the difference between getting better and constant pain.

Sciatic nerve irritation is often triggered by injury to one or more intervertebral discs in the lower back. The discs are the soft shock absorbers sandwiched between the vertebrae. When one or more disks is damaged adequately to protrude into the passageways where the nerve branches that form the sciatic nerve come out of the spine, the nerves can become irritated. Inflammation from the herniated spinal disc can also cause swelling and this swelling may produce additional nerve irritation. The resulting nerve irritation creates the pain and other symptoms that travel into the buttock area and or leg that is known as sciatica.

The chief result of most good sciatica pain home treatment exercises is to "squeeze" the bulging intervertebral disc material away from the irritated nerves (as is achieved by means of the McKenzie extension treatment exercises discussed later) and/or diminish the accumulation of fluid from inflammation (which can be accomplished by any gentle aerobic exercise like swimming or walking). This decrease in compression of the nerve root through decreased intervertebral disc bulging and swelling usually provides fast symptom relief. With repeated utilization of the home treatment exercises over a duration of several days, even resistant cases will usually get symptom relief in time and gradual stabilization of the lumbar disc wall will happen to control the chance of reinjury. As the intervertebral disc stabilizes, lasting relief of pain is the result.

Among the most popular of the sciatic nerve pain exercises is the previously mentioned McKenzie extension method, which is very similar to the "cobra" position in yoga. The idea is that backward bending of the spine gently squeezes the gel-like substance on the inside of the intervertebral disc forward and away from the nerves that produce sciatic nerve pain.

In addition to sciatic nerve symptoms home exercises, there are further strategies that can be utilized to reduce sciatic nerve irritation and pain. Utilizing ice (separated from the skin with a thin layer of cloth to prevent frost bite) for 10 to 15 minutes at a time as much as every few hours will usually relieve inflammation and swelling around nerves considerably better than even the most effective anti-inflammatory drugs. Acupressure and self massage can also be valuable in decreasing inflammatory swelling around the spinal nerves and ease painful symptoms. The reduction of swelling produced by these additional varieties of self-care enhance the effects of the sciatic nerve pain home exercises.

With repeated application of stretches and extra sciatica self-care methods, high-priced and time-consuming professional treatment, unpleasant side effects from pills and invasive injections and surgeries can generally be averted. By becoming educated on what sciatic nerve home exercises and self-administered treatments to use and what not to use, you can participate in your own recovery and prevent a recurrence of the sciatica in the future.