A Natural Remedy To Fight Inflammation And Soothe Sciatic Nerve Pain
Image: Shutterstock
“Go natural” is the prevailing mantra of the current times! Natural remedies for skin, hair, and body health issues (whether internal or external) are emphasized on. You can almost say there’s a rush to go back to the old times! To harness the ancient wisdom of our forefathers who treated every malady naturally.
It’s good to go down the road of natural remedies though. We mean, even if they don’t work as promised, at least you won’t be plagued by a number of reactions and side effects as in the case of allopathic medicines. The safety of natural remedies is why people consider it to be an attractive option all over the world!
Of all the diseases and health problems natural medicine can cure, sciatica happens to be one of them. In this article, we will share with you a highly effective natural remedy for sciatic pain that helps reduce inflammation to keep you ache-free! But before we get to that, let’s take a look at what sciatic pain really is.
What Is Sciatica?
Sciatica is a type of nerve pain that originates and spreads from your sciatic nerve (1). It mostly affects your lower back, legs, buttocks, and hips. This kind of pain is actually very common among the age group of 24 to 45 years.
Symptoms:
There aren’t many symptoms of sciatica. Those who suffer from it experience a radiating pain in their lower back and buttocks that extends to the backside of their legs (2). This is the most major symptom. Apart from that, patients may feel discomfort in the sciatic nerve in general.
Sciatic pain can be either excruciating or mild. It can sometimes be sharp and feel like a burning sensation or even like an electric shock. Sneezing can worsen your pain. In certain cases, you may also show symptoms such as numbness and weakness in the affected muscles.
Causes:
The most prevalent cause of sciatica is a herniated disk, which pinches your sciatic nerve. Other causes can be a bone spur as well as nerve damage caused by diabetes or a tumor. Degenerative disk disease, pregnancy, muscle spasms, and spondylolisthesis are other causes (3). Plenty of risk factors can make you susceptible to sciatica such as your age, the nature of your job, obesity, sitting for long hours every day, and diabetes.
How Can Sciatica Be Treated Naturally?
Conventional treatment of sciatica revolves around the administration of medications to help ease the pain. These medications also aim to relax the muscles and reduce inflammation so other symptoms of sciatica can be dealt with. In severe cases, treatment can range from physiotherapy to steroid injections and surgery (4). Needless to say, all these treatment methods carry with them the risk of side effects, including severe ones.
If the side effects of conventional treatment methods deter you, you should try out natural remedies for sciatic pain. Although you’ll find several remedies for it, we want to share a particularly effective one with you. This natural remedy attempts to reduce the inflammation associated with sciatic pain to bring you some much-needed relief.
The key ingredients of this remedy are garlic, turmeric, and almond milk. Both turmeric and garlic are packed with anti-inflammatory properties that make them highly effective in relieving pain (5), (6). In fact, the two of these are also effective in treating arthritic pain and pain caused by injuries and sprains. They also pack in other benefits, which include a boost in brain function and immunity.
Almond milk too can decrease inflammation and help you fight a number of chronic diseases such as those that affect the heart as well as diabetes, osteoarthritis, and more.
Anyway, let’s get back to the remedy. The full list of ingredients you’ll need for it has been mentioned below:
- 3 teaspoons of turmeric powder
- A cup of almond milk
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 2 teaspoons of honey
Directions:
- First, peel and blend the garlic cloves.
- Next, take a glass and add the almond milk to it.
- Mix in the turmeric and garlic and add honey to the mixture. The honey will help enhance the taste of this drink, which many may find a little harsh on the taste buds.
- Once all the ingredients have been thoroughly mixed, drink it straight from the glass.
Ideally, to get relief from sciatic pain, you should have this drink twice daily. However, before you make this a ritual, check if you’re allergic to any of its ingredients. Proceed only if you’re not allergic. Also, consult with your physician to know if it’s safe for you to have the drink as other pre-existing conditions (or even prescribed medication) can interfere with its effectiveness.
Although we don’t recommend self-diagnosis, we believe this simple natural remedy is worth a shot to get some relief from low to moderate sciatic pain.
