Top four therapeutic herbs for sciatic pain

Saturday, November 10, 2012 by: PF Louis
Tags: sciatic pain, herbs, Jamaican dogwood

(NaturalNews) Sciatic pain, or sciatica, occurs off and on with many people. Sometimes it's mistaken for lower back pain or leg cramps. When it does, the tendency is to stay in bed and gulp down some ibuprofen or other OTC (over the counter) pharmaceutical.

But sciatica is a symptom of another problem that is pinching or creating pressure on the sciatic nerve. It's not a diagnosed condition itself. The sciatic nerve is the largest single nerve in the human body. It runs down each leg from the lower spine all the way to the feet, providing movement, feeling, and strength to either leg.

Sciatica symptoms can include sharp painful burning sensations or cramping. Sometimes there can be tingling sensations and numbness in different areas of the buttock, leg or foot. The wording is singular because usually sciatica occurs on one side or the other, not in both legs simultaneously.

Pains and sensations are felt in some positions but not others. Walking may be painless after getting through the painful positions to get up and walk.

If the condition is chronic, it's advisable to visit a chiropractor. The nerve pinch or pressure could be coming from dislocated vertebrae or a contracted spinal canal. Surgery may be required for a severely herniated disk between vertebrae. But that's rare.

It's not unusual for sciatic pain to come and go with the right pain relief remedy and sufficient rest.

Four herbs that should help you get through sciatic pain

(1) Jamaican dogwood has often been the top choice for relieving nerve pain. It's powerful stuff. It is derived from the bark of the dogwood tree, and can be taken in capsule or tincture forms as well as a tea from the bark's powder.

If you go to conventional medical site, you'll see mainstream medicine agrees with its efficacy, but with all kinds of warnings to not use it without a doctor's supervision because it can be toxic. However, herbal sites assert it is not toxic for humans, although too much can overly sedate.

It is appropriately advised that pregnant women or lactating mothers not use Jamaican Dogwood, and anyone with a congestive heart condition should avoid it also. If taking any other medication, determine if there could be contraindications or complications.

(2) Turmeric or curcumin, turmeric's active ingredient, is a natural anti-inflammatory that can be taken as a tonic to minimize chronic inflammation. It's best to heat turmeric in milk or ghee and coconut oil with some pepper, which contains piperine to help absorb nutrients.

Taking turmeric often is okay for sciatica. If you need a short cut, curcumin enteric coated capsules with piperine is suggested for optimal absorption and faster relief.

(3) Kratom is an herb that is both fast and natural for pain relief and unknown to most of us. Natural News readers were only very recently introduced to it by Jonathan Benson's article. (https://www.naturalnews.com/035480_kratom_pain_relief_herb.html)

Indonesians hooked on opium used kratom to help them endure opium withdrawal easily. According to legend, that's why it was banned there. It was interfering with the opium trade. Maybe so, maybe not.

The fact that it also makes you feel good, helps overcome depression has caused a stir in the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). The state of Indiana has banned kratom.

But it is available online in all other states and in most other countries. You can find out more about it here: http://www.kratomassociation.org/

(4) Arnica with DMSO combines a homeopathic topical cream with DMSO as an adjunct to give fast pain relief from sciatica. Adding DMSO speeds and deepens arnica's topically applied efficacy while adding its own pain and inflammatory relief. (https://www.naturalnews.com/037485_DMSO_inflammation_muscle_pain.html)

Sources for this article include:

http://www.nativeremedies.com/articles/herbal-treatment-sciatica.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001706/

http://www.spine-health.com

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/jamaican_dogwood_bark.php