This is the fifth and final blog I've written in a series about homeopathy and musculoskeletal disorders. My previous articles were on rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative arthritis, gout, and finally tendinitis and bursitis.
This blog will cover the topic of back pain, sciatica, and how homeopathy can help people experiencing it. I’ll first document the nature of back pain and suggest lifestyle changes one can implement to relieve their pain. I will also describe the etiology and signs of sciatica. Then I’ll cover how homeopathy works with people experiencing this condition. This will be followed by recommendations of a few homeopathic remedies that may help.
Back pain can occur in the upper back, mid-back, and low back. It affects approximately 80% of Americans at some point in their lives. This staggering number also makes back pain one of the leading causes of absenteeism from work and disability claims. What makes back pain so common in our culture?
There are several risk factors associated with having low back pain that are common circumstances in our culture. Some risk factors you can do something about include:
Sciatica is a form of back pain that refers to a narrowing of the spinal canal, which compresses the spinal cord and sciatic spinal nerve roots together. This extremely painful condition is brought on by some form of trauma, degeneration (arthritis or bone spurs), or rupture (herniated disc) in the back.
Signs and symptoms of sciatica include:
Belladonna: Sudden onset of severe low back pain or sciatica. Pain is so severe that it prevents any movement. Pain is worse from motion, being jarred, misstepping, from the direct pressure of laying on it, and from long sitting. Generally affects the right side more than the left.
Calcarea Carbonica: Low back pain from the slightest exertion, especially lifting. Back feels weak; person easily slumps in the chair. Worse from the cold, damp weather; from lifting; exerting; or ascending (stairs).
Kali Carbonicum: Low back pain that drives them out of bed at night. Worse at night, often at 2 or 3 am; also from the cold or drafts. Usually affects the right side. Pains that extend into the buttocks or into the sole of the foot.
Nux Vomica: Severe sciatica down either leg with great sensitivity and is often accompanied with anger. Worse in the morning that worsens the longer they stay in bed; from the cold; from turning in the bed. Better from heat.
Tellurium: Severe pains that travel down the sacrum and into the sciatic nerve and thigh. Worse from coughing; laughing; sneezing; when pressing during stool; anything that induces the valsalva maneuver (forcible exhalation against a closed airway).
In this fifth and final blog on homeopathy and musculoskeletal disorders, I covered the topic of back pain and sciatica. I covered important lifestyle changes one can make to relieve low back pain, I described the etiology and symptoms for sciatica, and suggested several homeopathic remedies that may help people who experience this condition.
Thanks for reading!
Noel
This blog will cover the topic of back pain, sciatica, and how homeopathy can help people experiencing it. I’ll first document the nature of back pain and suggest lifestyle changes one can implement to relieve their pain. I will also describe the etiology and signs of sciatica. Then I’ll cover how homeopathy works with people experiencing this condition. This will be followed by recommendations of a few homeopathic remedies that may help.
Back pain can occur in the upper back, mid-back, and low back. It affects approximately 80% of Americans at some point in their lives. This staggering number also makes back pain one of the leading causes of absenteeism from work and disability claims. What makes back pain so common in our culture?
There are several risk factors associated with having low back pain that are common circumstances in our culture. Some risk factors you can do something about include:
- Infrequent or inadequate exercise
- Sedentary lifestyle (less than 30 minutes of activity daily)
- The nature of your job (that involves long periods of sitting, heavy lifting, repetitive motions, bending and twisting motions, or constant vibration that occurs with using heavy machinery).
- Smoking (believe it or not, smoking increases the risk for low back pain)
- Being overweight (as a result from poor physical condition, weak back and abdominal muscles, and minimal flexibility)
- Poor posture
- Stress (chronic stress induces chronic tensing of muscles)
- Taking medications chronically that may weaken bones, such as corticosteroids
Sciatica is a form of back pain that refers to a narrowing of the spinal canal, which compresses the spinal cord and sciatic spinal nerve roots together. This extremely painful condition is brought on by some form of trauma, degeneration (arthritis or bone spurs), or rupture (herniated disc) in the back.
Signs and symptoms of sciatica include:
- Severe, sharp pain that radiates from the sciatic nerve down the leg and to the foot
- Pains may be intermittent (off and on) or continuous
- Numbness and tingling of the skin supplied by the affected nerve.
- Low back pain
- Inability to stand or sit on account of the pain
- Radiating pain may go down the legs and in the buttocks, thighs, or calves.
- Weakness in legs
Belladonna: Sudden onset of severe low back pain or sciatica. Pain is so severe that it prevents any movement. Pain is worse from motion, being jarred, misstepping, from the direct pressure of laying on it, and from long sitting. Generally affects the right side more than the left.
Calcarea Carbonica: Low back pain from the slightest exertion, especially lifting. Back feels weak; person easily slumps in the chair. Worse from the cold, damp weather; from lifting; exerting; or ascending (stairs).
Kali Carbonicum: Low back pain that drives them out of bed at night. Worse at night, often at 2 or 3 am; also from the cold or drafts. Usually affects the right side. Pains that extend into the buttocks or into the sole of the foot.
Nux Vomica: Severe sciatica down either leg with great sensitivity and is often accompanied with anger. Worse in the morning that worsens the longer they stay in bed; from the cold; from turning in the bed. Better from heat.
Tellurium: Severe pains that travel down the sacrum and into the sciatic nerve and thigh. Worse from coughing; laughing; sneezing; when pressing during stool; anything that induces the valsalva maneuver (forcible exhalation against a closed airway).
In this fifth and final blog on homeopathy and musculoskeletal disorders, I covered the topic of back pain and sciatica. I covered important lifestyle changes one can make to relieve low back pain, I described the etiology and symptoms for sciatica, and suggested several homeopathic remedies that may help people who experience this condition.
Thanks for reading!
Noel
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