If you let it, sciatica can be very debilitating. The sciatic nerve is known as the longest nerve in the human body, the nerve starts in the lower portion of our spinal cord and continues all the way through the backs of our legs until it finally reaches our toes. That’s a lot of area. It’s no wonder having sciatica can be such a pain, the sciatic nerve runs through so much of our body, which means depending on the severity of your sciatica, it could affect you a whole lot.
The sciatic nerve performs many functions for the body, such as giving strength to your legs and controlling its reflexes. When the sciatic nerve is damaged, these functions may not work properly. Sciatica is defined as the pain you experience when this nerve is damaged. Sciatica can range in its severity and has the potential to keep people out of doing their normal activities for a long while. But, massage therapy can help alleviate the pain caused by sciatica and make it so you can function normally. Actually, one of the main reasons people come in for massage therapy treatment is to relieve sciatic pain.
There are two key ways massage pinpoints and eliminates sciatic pain. First, massage therapy works to loosen up the lower back muscles known to impact your nerve roots. Secondly, massage is known to allow endorphins to release and spread throughout the body. These endorphins fight and reduce pain the body may be experiencing as a result of sciatica.
Plus, endorphins aren’t the only thing that getting a massage can boost. The act of massage upon the body can also increase your amounts of dopamine and serotonin, the increase in this naturally-occurring chemicals are great for your body. Dopamine, serotonin and endorphins all work in healing the body, promoting a sense of calm and just help you help better overall.
As always, massage is best when you continue treatment regularly. Although you may experience relief from your sciatic pain after one visit, in order to retain the effects and reap the maximum amount of benefits from massage, it is important you come into the massage clinic for regularly scheduled appointments.
Image Credit: KDS4444 | Sciatic nerve2.jpg from Wikimedia Commons | License: CC-BY-SA 4.0
