Sciatica Pain Relief When Sitting

Most of us think of rest as one of the most important components of recovering from an illness, injury, or other health challenges. Have the flu? Crawl in bed and sleep it off for a few days. Sprained your ankle? Sit down, prop your feet up, and apply ice. Suffering from a migraine? Lie down in a dark room with a cool cloth across your forehead.

Rest is not the only answer when it comes to solving health challenges and managing pain, but it is almost always one of the answers. This is why there is an especially cruel twist when it comes to sciatica symptoms: resting can make you feel…worse!

It’s true: sitting down when you have sciatic nerve issues can be particularly painful, especially if you need to sit for long periods (while working or driving, for example).

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to mitigate and reduce this severe pain. Read on to learn more about how to relieve sciatica pain relief while sitting.

The Sciatic Nerve: What You Need to Know

To understand sciatica, you first need to understand (and appreciate) the sciatic nerve.

Sciatica occurs when this nerve is compressed, inflamed, or otherwise affected negatively by some type of injury. The reason the pain can be so intense when this happens is down to the size and length of this nerve. It travels from your coccyx (tailbone) down to the sole of your foot!

So, if the nerve root is somehow damaged, you can experience intense shooting or throbbing low back pain that continues down your left or right leg (or both). That pain is often intensified as you sit for long periods.

How Can I Sit Comfortably with Sciatica?

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Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid sitting for at least some periods of the day, whether that means in an office setting, just kicking back in a favorite recliner at night, or driving a neighborhood carpool to soccer practice.

Here are some practical tips you can consider to reduce the chronic pain you are experiencing from sciatica:

Tip #1: Sit Up Straight

Just as your parents may have reminded you night after night at the dinner table growing up, sitting up straight is important. Good posture is about more than simply outward appearance, though it can make a tremendous difference to your health.

If you focus on positioning your body correctly whenever you are in a seated position (feet planted flat on the floor and back and shoulders straight) you will be doing your spinal health a great favor and also alleviating pressure on the sciatic nerve. It can be tough to avoid hunching over in hour ten of what was supposed to be an eight-hour workday but try your best to focus on posture throughout the day.

Tip #2: Look to Support Cushions for Added Support

If staying focused on posture is particularly challenging for you, there are a variety of cushions that may benefit you and keep your body in the correct position. Try gel seat cushions designed to alleviate the pain of sciatica or lumbar cushions placed against your lower back.

QuTool’s Lumbar Support Pillow is a great example of an inexpensive yet effective chair cushion that can help you maintain correct posture and minimize pain as you sit at your desk or in your car (or even in your gaming chair.) The ergonomic design and precisely moulded memory foam in this pillow offer firm yet comfortable back support. The mesh cover is breathable so that the pillow does not create unwanted heat and it can also be tossed into the washing machine as needed.

Tip #3: Criss Cross Applesauce

While it may not be feasible to sit this way all the time (and your CEO might be taken aback to find you on the floor in a board meeting), try sitting cross-legged at various points during the day when you are able.

The key to this tip is placing your legs in the right order. Most of us only experience sciatic nerve pain in one leg. Make sure that leg is placed on top of the other leg as you cross them.

This way the leg with pain can rest on the one without pain, and in doing so you may relieve some of the pressure on the sciatic nerve. You could try this while watching your favorite television show in the evening or while meditating in the morning.

Tip #4: Claim the Recliner

While the ubiquitous living room recliner is often fought over by family members, you should stake a (temporary) claim to it if you are suffering from sciatica nerve pain.

Leaning back in a chair might be the “sweet spot” for you when it comes to sciatica relief; you might find that a reclined position is the only way you can sit comfortably. If you do not own a recliner, test-driving this theory before running out and buying one. Not everyone will find relief from the reclined position, so be sure this works for you.

Should you want to invest in a recliner to help with sciatic nerve pain, there are plenty of affordable options available with styles to match any décor. Recliners have come a long way in recent years, with manufacturers letting go of the oversized and bulky designs of the past to create sleek and stylish chairs that often find people exclaiming “I had no idea that chair was a recliner!)

The Furniwell Recliner Chair is a great choice for easing sciatica pain and comes with a massage function to boot! Available in brown or black polyurethane leather, this chair is available at an affordable price point and can be assembled in just minutes.

Tip #5: Heat It (Listen to Grandma)

Sometimes the old-fashioned advice we might hear from our grandmothers is still the best course of action for pain management, and this is certainly true when it comes to the heating pad. Sciatica sufferers might find that the application of a heating pad to the areas where the pain is most intense will provide some temporary relief.

This Medical King Heating Pad is an affordable way to minimize sciatica pain and includes four handy timer settings, so the pad will shut off on its own if you fall asleep while using it.

Sometimes it is not convenient to use a heating pad if you are on the go and do not have access to an electrical outlet, so you can also consider heating patches or wraps.

The Aspercreme Warming Pain Relief Patch is a great way to treat sciatica as well as lower back pain while you are on the go. Each box comes with five patches, and you could keep these at the office for extra relief on days when you are subject to prolonged sitting.

Sciatica Pain Relief: Final Notes

There are plenty of ways to minimize sciatica pain, including the tips we outlined above as well as seeing a physical therapist, chiropractic care, performing simple exercises and sciatica stretches that you can do at home, over-the-counter pain relievers, steroid injections, and surgery.

Before you begin any of these treatments, however, be sure to discuss your pain with your primary care doctor. Not all lower back or leg pain is sciatica; you should first determine the root cause of your pain before moving forward with treatments. In some cases, lower back or leg pain could signify a problem much more serious (such as a blood clot), so be sure to discuss your condition with your doctor.