Sciatica

What Exercises and Physical Therapy Help to Treat Sciatica

The sciatic nerve is the nerve that runs down the leg from the end of the lower back. When the pain radiates throughout this nerve, the patient is said to have the symptom of Sciatica. This condition can be a result of certain underlying conditions such as Hernia, spinal discs, etc. Sciatica can initially show itself as a minute but continuous pain or numbness in the leg, back hip, or foot.

For the treatment of Sciatica, certain targeted exercises and physical therapies are considered primarily effective. These treatment options for this condition are provided by skilled practitioners such as physiotherapists, trainers, etc. Physiotherapy exercises and techniques are particularly advised to the patients for the treatment of pain that comes along with sciatica.

Physical therapy and exercises aim for following things in the treatment of Sciatica

Physiotherapists and other professionals use the help of physical therapy and exercises to attain certain goals for the patient to be completely free from their condition. These professionals know that the key to the increase in the success rate of the treatment is consistency and skillful hands. These are the aims of physical therapy and exercises in the treatment of sciatica:

  • Making the patient regain their ability to move their body without restriction and pain
  • Relieve the patient from pain in organs associated with sciatica
  • Minimize involuntary muscle contractions
  • Strengthening the spine and joints to increase their normal functionality
  • Increase flexibility in the legs to improve their movements
  • Use proper techniques and surroundings to increase the healing process
  • Prevent the reoccurrence of pain in the patient

Treatment techniques in physical treatment and sciatica for sciatica

 Physical therapy for sciatica includes various methods and their combinations such as:

  • Mobilizing nerve: In this method, the sciatic nerve of the leg is put into a state of changing tensions. Because of this, the patient feels a reduce in pain while moving
  • Enhancing joint movement: This is done by putting calculated pressure on a joint to make its movement smooth. This technique is done frequently as a therapy to enhance the overall movement of the joint
  • Dry needling and acupuncture: This technique is done by a highly-skilled professional to stimulate target points in the body through specialized needles. This method releases the contractions in muscle and releases certain chemical substances such as endorphins to reduce pain
  • Releasing tension in soft tissues: It is done with the help of hands and equipment where physiotherapists release the tension in soft tissues in areas such as legs, buttocks, hips, and back. This increases the mobility in these organs while reducing sciatica.

Exercises that help in the treatment of sciatica are advised to the patient based on the cause of the condition. Some of these exercises are:

  • Back stretches that help in increasing spine movement: It is seen in some patients, moving the spine in a particular orientation helps them to get relief from pain in the leg. A proper examination by the physical therapist is very necessary to involve the patient in relevant exercises for the spine. In this examination, your physiotherapist maps out your preferential movements.
  • Exercises to increase strength and stability: In these exercises your physiotherapist aim at strengthening your muscles that affect your sciatica. These exercises include:
  • Stationary muscle contraction, in which your joints are kept stationary while you contract your muscle
  • Contracting the muscle against a certain weight or resistance

Conclusion

Other than the treatment of sciatica through physical therapy and exercises, your physiotherapist may also advise you to bring some changes in your lifestyle and posture. The reason for this is that the most common causes of sciatica are less complicated such as incorrect posture while different bodily positions. Also, physiotherapists stress the fact that if you suffer from sciatica but not of that severity in which rest is necessary, you must involve yourself in activities rather than staying in the bed.

It is one’s individual choice to go for physical therapy and exercises as their treatment option for sciatica but from the statistical data around the world, these treatment options are seen as an integral part of the overall treatment and prevention of this condition

At Om Physio Plus Nutrition, you will get the best physiotherapist for physiotherapy exercises for sciatica and other musculoskeletal conditions.

exercise after Knee Surgery

5 Types of Exercises to Be Avoided After Knee Surgery

Knee injuries in today’s world have become so common that if choose you as a random person, still you might have someone related to you suffering from knee-related problems. This is due to the exertion that the knees must go through gradually in everyone’s lifetime. People often experience degeneration of cartilage in their knees because of this exertion as knee injuries. When this happens the condition of injured knees always takes a downhill path.

As human mobility is completely dependent on their knees, without the functioning of knees a person cannot even stand. Knee surgery is a procedure to substitute some of the important functions of our knee by installing an artificial knee in the place of the one which is natural but non-functional.

The fact that the efficiency of a natural knee cannot be replaced by any artificial means, results in the restriction of the movements that the person who has gone through a knee surgery makes. Immediately after knee surgery, it is advised to people that they perform some specific exercises for the recovery after the surgery but there are some exercises to be avoided after knee surgery too.

Here are 6 types of exercises to be avoided after knee surgery

Sitting

Exercises that involve sitting for long periods of time such as some yoga positions are harmful to a replaced knee. This is because prolonged sitting causes the blood supply to have obstructions in the knee while circulation. If this obstruction in the blood supply occurs within 2 or 3 weeks of surgery, there is a great possibility of the formation of blood clots? This can lead to immensely uncomfortable symptoms in the knee.

Weight lifting

There is a reason that after knee surgery, the patient is required to walk with the assistance of walking equipment such as a walker for at least 3 months. Even after one has recovered from the surgery, in these three months period a patient is advised to not even bare their own weight. To ensure this the patient is restricted to walking up the stairs too. Therefore, weightlifting exercises are to be strictly avoided after knee replacement surgery.

Sprinting and jogging

Speaking in the terms of force applied, any kind of exercise that include fast sprinting or even slow jogging exert much higher force on the knees in comparison to when we are simply walking. It is obvious that after knee surgery, the operated knee must not bear much force as there is the artificial knee has fragile bonds with the other parts of the leg and can be damaged easily because of running.

Skipping and jumping

For the same reasons as sprinting, physiotherapy doctors advise the patients to not involve in activities that include jumping of any sort. This is because these kinds of exercises can impact the knee with more force than jogging. So, this is a higher risk of damage in these exercises than even running.

Contact sports

Sports that require the players to be contacted with each other during the game are known as contact sports. Patients after knee surgery are required to avoid participation in these kinds of sports for longer periods even after the recovery as they can lead to unbearable traumas to the knee resulting in the disorientation of the artificial knee.

Some examples of the contact sports to avoid after knee surgery are as follows:

  • Hockey
  • Soccer
  • Football/ Rugby
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Skiing
  • Tennis
  • Volleyball
  • Badminton

What exercises are good for your knee surgery

Movement is necessary after knee surgery, but this movement should be controlled and under the supervision of an expert. Some of the exercises that are advised to perform after knee surgery are as follows:

  • Careful stretching of the leg: You will be asked to put an elevation under your heel and first move your toes in front and back motion. Then you will be asked to try to stretch your leg with the help of the assistance of a practitioner.
  • Assisted bending of the knee: To ensure mobility after the recovery of your knee surgery your physical therapist will make you perform the exercise of knee bends. This exercise will require you to slide your foot towards your hips and hold the position of tension for 5 seconds.
  • Cycling: After the period of 4 months of recovery, light exercises such as cycling, and swimming are really helpful to make your knee used to some exertion.

Conclusion

In this blog, we learned the types of exercises to avoid after knee replacement surgery. It is very important to stay active after knee surgery, but the movements should be controlled and beneficial.

To ensure the best assistance for your exercises after knee surgery, contact Om Physio Plus Nutrition.

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