When sciatica type symptoms get the better of you and nothing you do seems to make it better, here is something you can do for pain relief every day from my checklist for corrective actions and treatments Part 2.
Keep moving to keep the muscles limber and the blood and lymph flowing. Prolonged tension or inactivity can produce pain. Tai Chi is a gentle movement therapy to explore. I love the phrase “Rest is Rust.”
Remember when going to the hospital meant days of bed rest? Those days are over! They get you up and moving the same day as your surgery. That’s because your body heals better when you move. The formula for injury recovery used to be RICE Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. It’s now MICE: Move Ice Compress Elevate .
When you move, your muscles work, and as they work they pump blood through those soft tissues, carrying precious nutrients, rebuilding cells and energy molecules: healthy tissue! The movement also pumps waste products out through the circulatory and lymphatic systems as well as through your breath and your skin, relieving pain by restoring a healthy environment. Movement also lines up the healing tissue in the direction it moves. If you don’t move, your body forms irregular scar tissue areas that prevent restoration of normal movement patterns.
Even random movements will help, so move whatever you can in any way you can and it will be good. Other gentle exercises you might consider are swimming and Tai Chi. When I say swimming, I don’t mean you have to swim laps, but moving about with the support of the water will be comfortable and should be pleasant. Tai Chi is an Asian exercise routine practiced by young and old. It is more of a movement therapy than exercise, getting your body and your energy (chi) moving to remove areas of “stagnation.” It shouldn’t take much looking to find a Tai Chi class somewhere nearby. Walking is another good way to keep moving. You don’t have to walk fast, just amble along if that’s all you can do. Moving is the important thing. Try moving your hips as you walk, or do a little dancing in your livingroom. Put on some good music and have some fun! Enjoying your exercise has been shown to increase it’s benefits.
I subscribe to a saying I heard years ago, “Don’t sit if you can stand. Don’t stand if you can walk. Don’t walk if you can run.” Keep moving!
…from my Neuromuscular Therapy center near Boston.
The saying is (and my father a medical doctor with over 40 years experience)
if there is a chair, sit in it
Sit, rather than stand,
lie down rather than sit
With respect to your father, that is old-fashioned medicine. In the hospitals they get you up and walking now the day after surgery because it speeds healing. Blood flow is crucial to healthy muscles. It brings nutrients to build tissue and takes away the waste products that cause pain and disease. Movement creates increased flow of blood. Even random movements help.