Which is the best home remedy for piriformis pain? Are home remedies even effective for treating piriformis syndrome or are they a complete waste of time? Are there any contraindications to using home care for piriformis muscle pain? These are all important questions to answer.
Being that more people than ever before are wary of professional medical care, there is a growing demand for home treatments that work. The scope of this essay is to assist patients in finding home-based therapies that will actually help relieve their pain.
This discussion helps patients with piriformis pain find effectual treatment that can applied at home. We will detail the benefits and limitations of home-based care, as well as the risks that must be considered.
Home Remedy for Piriformis Pain Indications
Home treatment is ideal for certain types of patients, but is not a substitute for professional medical care. Patients should never attempt to self-diagnose, but if they already have the benefit of a verified diagnosis of piriformis syndrome, then there are methods of care that can be easily and safely self-managed.
Home remedies are in demand for several definitive reasons including any of the following circumstances:
Many people have a distrust for doctors, since the methods of care commonly employed are toxic to the body. Oral route drugs are pure poison and solve nothing long-term, but profitable surgery is often recklessly performed.
Many patients can not afford professional ongoing medical or complementary medical care for their pain. They might not have the financial resources to pay for the cost and may not have access to health insurance coverage. This is a growing problem and the healthcare systems of many developed countries have excluded so many people due to high costs and “pre-existing condition” clauses.
Some patients might live in remote areas, making professional treatment difficult to access or prohibitively expensive or time consuming to use.
Home Remedy Choices
There are several choices of home-based care that can be very effective for relieving symptoms of piriformis syndrome at home. However, there are some conditions that will not respond favorably to any method of home care, since they may involve a structural abnormality in the natural design of the muscle and proximity of the sciatic nerve which might require correction via surgery. It must be known that this occurrence is very rare.
Below, we detail some of the most effective forms of home treatment for piriformis pain:
Massage and self-massage can be performed by a friend, family member or the patient themselves. Massage can be very effective for reducing some types of pain and can be used almost anytime and anywhere.
Exercises and stretches can emulate professional physical therapy at home. Many patients find exercise to help them, while just as many find exercise to aggravate their pain. Activity-related fitness such as yoga, tai chi and Pilates are commonly used by patients if physical exertion is beneficial to their pain.
TENS is not really meant for piriformis syndrome, but some patients do find it to help somewhat in managing symptomology.
OTC drugs are almost as dangerous as prescription medications and certainly have similar risk when used long-term. It is not advised to use any type of drug therapies regularly and certainly not for extended durations of care. The negative effects of pharmacological therapy on the anatomy are extremely dangerous.
Topical medications are much less risk and even more effective for many patients. These products are applied to the skin and are often used in combination with massage or exercise therapy for maximum synergistic benefit.
Activity avoidance can help reduce pain, but might do so at great collateral consequence. Eliminating some activities from life might be acceptable, but others will greatly impact living normally and therefore do not provide an acceptable long-term solution for patients.
Heat and ice are some of the best home remedies for piriformis pain and can also be used in combination with exercise or massage for maximum therapeutic effect.
Home Remedy for Piriformis Pros and Cons
Home remedies have certain advantages over professional care, but also feature some distinct downsides. Let’s explore the pros of piriformis pain home treatment:
Home care is convenient and can be self-managed. The patient must take responsibility for their own care, which is actually a great thing, since so many patients are completely passive in their healthcare decisions and therefore make easily targets for opportunistic caregivers.
Home treatment is almost always going to be exponentially cheaper than any type of professional care. Most home treatment is free or nearly free, while professional healthcare is incredibly costly in most areas of the world and becoming ever more so,
Home treatment generally features mush less health risk than professional care. Of course OTC drug therapies are the exception to this rule and some forms of professional care (physical therapy, chiropractic, massage, etc) can be very constructive, as well.
As far as downsides of home based care, there are really only a few negative to consider and these may not be applicable to all patients or conditions:
Some patients might require surgery to address abnormities in sciatic nerve path. While this is very uncommon, it can occur and might require professional medical treatment to adequately resolve the pain.
Misdiagnosis is a monumental problem in the healthcare industry. Many patients might be wasting their time trying to relieve piriformis syndrome at home, if the diagnosis is not valid. In many cases, piriformis symptomology is a manifestation of a mindbody pain syndrome. In these cases, the patients will not likely find relief using any type of care, be it home based or professionally applied. Instead, they should be using knowledge therapy to stop the symptom imperative and end the pain for good. This is why we commonly recommend that all patients with chronic pain integrate knowledge therapy into their care plan. There are no risks and in many cases, this is the solution that actually cures the pain when physical treatments fail.
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