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Back Pain: The Real Problem With Sciatica And What To Do About It

So this last week or so our clinic has been flooded with people suffering from back pain.
But not just any old type of back pain – the most severe of all in my humble opinion, “sciatica”.

There’s only one word to describe the pain that people suffer at the hands of sciatica and that’s “horrendous”!

In case you’re not familiar with what it is – you’d recognise it by having a severe pain running right down the back of your leg and into your toes.

And it’s often made much worse when you sit.

And there’s the real, true, underlying cause of most peoples trouble: sitting.

How much of it have you been doing lately?

Whether it is because of the heat outside, the bad air quality, or the rain, there are many reasons you’d want to stay inside in Bangkok throughout the year…

But the problem is that the more sitting that you do, the more pressure you add to your back and onto your sciatic nerve. Eventually, a disc at the bottom of your back will give up and the fluid inside it touches the nerve which runs down your leg – AKA sciatica.

It can cause pins and needles in your foot, numbness, and a cold sensation as well as the pain – and unfortunately, it’s often so painful that nothing in the way of medication – Morphene included, can ease it.

And despite what a few Doctors seem to think these days, there are things that can be done other than rest and painkillers, just hoping for it to go.

Physiotherapy can help! It often makes it worse before it gets better – but it does get better. Specific exercises are needed too. Again, they are painful at first, but if you persist, the pain begins to drop.

More: Limiting the amount of time you spend sitting can help too. And there’s something to note – I see a lot of people sitting on my couch in my clinic with back pain and they tell me that “sitting doesn’t make it worse” – but what they’re doing is sitting in a modified or slouched way that means they’re just avoiding the pain – making the whole thing last longer and often leaving the person with an awkward looking posture long after the back trouble has gone.

So, to sum up today’s “health lesson”…

Sciatica is a painful and life limiting condition. But, unless you’re in the small 5% of people who nothing can be done other than surgery, there ARE things you can do. And I think what is best understand about sciatica – and something that should be communicated a lot more by health professionals trying to help people suffering – is that often when you’re trying to make sciatica better in the long run, an increase in pain in the short run is normal. Not nice. But par for the course!

And in the end, this will mean a much more speedy return to better health than sitting and praying for time, popping more and more painkillers!


Author


Kodchakorn Tawonsupajalean

Kodchakorn (Ked) Tawonsupajalean
Head Therapist at Form Recovery and Wellness



Kodchakorn received a Degree in Physiotherapy from Mae Fah Luang Univeristy in Chiang Rai. Kodchakorn is the Head Therapist at Form Recovery and Wellness and works closely with all the therapists from all departments to ensure that every single client who comes to us has the highest chance of success.

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