Daily doses of supplements such as calcium, magnesium, St. John's Wort, and Vitamin B12 have shown to treat sciatica effectively. Pain medication: A common way many people treat sciatica is with drug therapy.
If you have pain, a dose of 250 to 500 mg of magnesium a day can start to decrease these deficiencies as well as the pain, after just several weeks — while also leaving you feeling more energetic and decreasing your risk of heart disease! (If you have kidney problems, do not use without your physician's OK.)
Some people that experience sciatica complain of muscle spasms and cramps alongside the pain. This is usually due to the oversensitive sciatic nerve. Eating foods rich in magnesium can help to ensure you are not deficient in magnesium and may help in controlling muscle spasms and can improve the symptoms of sciatica.
Magnesium is one of the most essential nutrients in the human body. It plays a vital role in nerve regeneration and functional recovery by reducing the inflammation and causing Schwann cell proliferation at the injury site, which increases axonal recovery.
Although the pain may be severe, sciatica can most often be relieved through physical therapy, chiropractic and massage treatments, improvements in strength and flexibility, and the application of heat and ice packs.
Alternating heat and ice therapy can provide immediate relief of sciatic nerve pain. Ice can help reduce inflammation, while heat encourages blood flow to the painful area (which speeds healing). Heat and ice may also help ease painful muscle spasms that often accompany sciatica.
[3,16–19] In a prospective study, magnesium intake was also inversely related to hs-CRP, fibrinogen and IL-6. [6] These findings provide evidence that dietary magnesium has beneficial effects on inflammatory markers.
The beneficial effects of magnesium treatment have also been demonstrated in patients suffering from neuropathic pain, such as in those with malignancy-related neurologic symptoms, postherpetic neuralgia, diabetic neuropathy, and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
Magnesium glycinate is especially for people with nerve pain or nerve degenerative diseases like diabetes mellitus and multiple sclerosis.
Vitamin B12 helps in synthesizing the fatty (myelin) sheath that covers the nerves, which is important in nerve function and conduction of impulses. Sciatica may occur due to vitamin B12 deficiency and may be more common in elderly people, above 60 years of age.
Sciatica results from the compression of the sciatic nerve, which is a large nerve originating in the lower spine. It can be due to disc herniation, arthritis, bone spurs, spinal canal narrowing (stenosis), trauma, compression of the piriformis muscle, or other anatomical abnormalities.
Magnesium begins to take effect after one week of consistent supplementation.
How do I know the nerve is recovering? As your nerve recovers, the area the nerve supplies may feel quite unpleasant and tingly. This may be accompanied by an electric shock sensation at the level of the growing nerve fibres; the location of this sensation should move as the nerve heals and grows.
If you take magnesium as a supplement, studies that showed that magnesium can have anti-anxiety effects generally used dosages of between 75 and 360 mg a day, according to the 2017 review.
Magnesium glycinate
Glycine is often used as a standalone dietary supplement to improve sleep and treat a variety of inflammatory conditions, including heart disease and diabetes ( 23 ). Magnesium glycinate is easily absorbed and may have calming properties.
The claimed benefits of magnesium supplementation range from boosts in everyday wellness — better sleep, increased energy levels and improved mood — to specific health benefits, such as lower blood pressure, reduced risk of heart disease and improvement in migraines.
Magnesium is essential for many aspects of health. The recommended daily intake is 400–420 mg per day for men and 310–320 mg per day for women ( 40 ). You can get this mineral from both food and supplements.
Sciatica may come back
Sciatica usually resolves on its own without treatment within a month or two. However, that doesn't mean it's gone for good. If you don't resolve the underlying condition that caused sciatica, it may recur and even develop into a chronic pain condition.
Many cases of sciatica will resolve on their own in a matter of weeks without treatment, but those with a deeper underlying cause will require proactive treatment to cure sciatica permanently.
Sciatica most often occurs when a herniated disk or an overgrowth of bone puts pressure on part of the nerve. This causes inflammation, pain and often some numbness in the affected leg.