*beep* the Lexica you have dialed is not in service at this time, or, Yankee Urges Thwarted

[lexica510]

I'm currently immobilized by a sciatica attack (an aftereffect of spending two weeks on crutches following my foot injury) and have spent the past week on the sofa. Since I got home from work on Friday the 7th, the only times I've left the apartment (or stood up for longer than five minutes, really) has been for acupuncture or other healthcare

Comments

[dottie_dear]

Do you ever try alternating heat and ice? Heat often feels great, but can aggravate inflammatory conditions. Alternating, beginning and ending with cold, can do wonders. Among other things, it constricts and dilates vessels and helps pump excess fluid out of tissue. 5-7 minutes of cold, 10-15 of heat, 5-7 of cold. Repeat as much as you like, as long as you begin and end with cold.

If the cold is shocking, put the heat on your belly while you ice your butt.

Can't hurt. Might help. Helps me when sciatica looms.

You can also sometimes self-treat by lying on the floor with the painful side parallel to a wall. Bend the knee on the painful side (other leg is find bent or straight, as is most comfortable for you). Using no more than 10% of your strength, press the bent injured leg against the wall. Stay relaxed, breathe evenly, hold for 15 seconds, release. Repeat several times. This can help relieve spasms in the external rotators of the hip, which often exacerbate sciatica by strangling the nerve. "Taking up the slack" gently, relieves the muscle tissue of the burden of maintaining the spasm, so it can let go.

/unsolicited advice

[lexica510]

Unsolicited but welcome - thanks. I think I'll give the alternating heat & ice thing a try. And my hip flexors had better get ready for some loving attention. :-)