Common sciatica physiotherapy products that you can use to help your body heal itself include:
- Lumber supports: Lumber supports are used to decrease stress on the spine in a sitting or standing position. This helps you to maintain proper posture. These come in the form of waist wraps and belts that are light weight and can be worn everywhere and can be bought at your local pharmacy or on the Internet.
- Back Braces: If you have serious back problems and require a high level of support, back braces are extremely useful. These Hinged Support can be custom made to fit you perfectly and others can be bought ready made. These back braces have some form of rigid stays for maximum support as well as inbuilt stabilizers. Quite often, the stays are made of aluminum. Back braces are also lightweight and can be worn anywhere.
- Ice/heat packs: Ice/heat packs have come a long way. They are freezable and microwaveable serving both hot and cold therapies. These are inexpensive and reusable. Whether you have back pain or not this is an essential piece of equipment that can be used following any injury. Using your pack as a cold pack reduces inflammation, blood flow, pain and muscle spasms. This allows for faster recovery. A cold pack should be used the first three days after trauma. A heat pack will help increase blood flow, enhance nutrient and waste exchange in the damaged area, reduce muscle spasms and allow for faster healing. A hot pack should be used after the third day of your injury.
- Massage balls: Massage balls are an inexpensive and effective self-massage tool. These balls improve flexibility, blood flow, muscle relaxation, reduced numbers of doctor visits and long-term relief. These balls also allow you to reach hard to get to places that otherwise require a therapist to do.
- Foam rollers: These rollers are long and made out of foam and are good rehabilitation tools for self massage including flexibility exercises. They often come in packs of different sizes and are very inexpensive.
- TENS machines: TENS is an acronym for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and uses electrical current produced by a device to stimulate nerves as a form of therapy. These can be bought inexpensively but there are also more expensive models. It just depends on your budget and your specific needs. These devices are simple and easy to use. Chiropractors have these units as well. TENS machines are for the treatment of chronic (severe) pain. This system can be applied to arthritis, back, shoulder, neck, knee, muscle strains and tendinitis. This machine generates a wide range of frequencies and comes with leads, batteries, electrodes and possibly gel. There is an advantage to having this machine at home, because you don’t have to drive to the doctor’s office.
Sciatic physiotherapy can easily be done at home. It is wise to get a proper diagnosis first and have a trained therapist show you how to do the exercises you need to do for your particular problem. Inexpensive sciatic home therapies include lumbar support, back braces, hot/cold packs, message balls, foam rollers and TENS machines. This list is not complete as there are a number of other sciatic physiotherapies available. As you gain relief, you should continue using your home therapies as a form of prevention. Regular exercise is necessary for all of us to remain physically fit and healthy.