Meet Dr. Shivani Gupta, entrepreneur, and PhD in Turmeric. Today we discuss the benefits of Turmeric, Ayurvedic medicine, and how this amazing plant and curcumin extra can help with pain management. Here are some scientific studies citing the benefits of turmeric in pain management like sciatica: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti… These results indicated that curcumin exerted a therapeutic role in neuropathic pain by down-regulating p300/CBP HAT activity-mediated gene expression of BDNF and Cox-2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti… CUR decreased CD ..read more

Meet Natalie. She’s a wife, mother, entrepreneur, and business mentor. She also suffered sciatica pain last year and spent hundreds of dollars trying to fix her problem. Luckily she found this podcast and started the Patient Advocate Program. Learn about her success story and how we helped her recover from her pain. If you would like to hear more about what Natalie is up to, you can check her out here: https://www.instagram.com/natreale_/ Are you looking for a more affordable way to manage your pain? Check out the patient advocate program here: ptpatientadvocate.com Here’s the self cheat shee ..read more

Buying shoes doesn’t have to be complicated. But the market out there is overwhelming and it shouldn’t be. This episode covers all you need to know about shoes and how to buy the best pair for you. My top shoe recommendation affiliate link is found here: https://ifixyoursciatica.gymleadmachine.co/favorite_products To listen on Apple Podcasts, click HERE. Are you looking for a more affordable way to manage your pain? Check out the patient advocate program here: ptpatientadvocate.com Here’s the self cheat sheet for symptom management: https://ifixyoursciatica.gymleadmachine.co/self-treatment-c ..read more

Spinal traction can be helpful if your body needs it. Why this matters: In most cases of people dealing with sciatica pain, there is a directional preference. Which is why it’s so important to listen to your body and identify, which positions does your body prefer? Spinal traction helps, because is provides a distraction (elongation) force to: relax muscles, open up joint spaces, and sometimes allows the disc to get back into the middle (due to negative pressure). The great news is that spinal traction can be applied in many angles and ways. You can go to a chiropractor or physical therapist a ..read more

Inversion tables are overrated. Why this matters: Sometimes elongation of your spine is exactly what you need. Spinal traction can help with herniated discs because it’s believed to pull the contents of that disc back into the middle (via negative pressure). Arthritis is also helped with decompression because it’s designed to open up the spaces of your back so that your nerves can move a little more freely. The great news is that you don’t need an inversion table to do it.  Action steps:This is a traction technique that I find to be helpful. You have 100% control over it and can pretty mu ..read more

Are you doing stretches in both directions? You may be slowing your recovery time. Why this matters: When you’re in an active state of pain, your priority is to reduce that pain before doing anything else. However, sometimes the series of stretches you’re doing can be counterproductive. For example the McKenzie Prone Press-up paired with a forward fold. The press-up was designed for people who’s pain improves with extension; and if pain improves with extension, then most likely flexion (or rounding) based activities will make things worse. The exact opposite is true when dealing with something ..read more

Take a bigger breath in and out. Why this matters: If you hold your breath, or fail to fully expand your rib cage when taking a breath in, then you’re dealing with some limitations. This carries over into sciatica pain as it can be caused by suboptimal back positions (either too arched, flattened, or shifted to one side). Being able to breathe normally will relax all of our muscles so they can function better. If you have tight hip flexors, tight hamstrings, a tight butt, or even tight back muscles, these are cues to tell you that we need to breathe better. Yesterday I shared with you how to d ..read more

You need to breathe better. Why this matters: Your breath begins at the diaphragm, meaning when you inhale, the belly/abdomen should be expanding in a 360 degree motion. Envision that your belly and rib cage expand in all directions. Unfortunately, due to stress and our day to day activities, we lose the ability to expand the rib cage. As a result, there is a lot of tension in the mid back/low back and this can cause pinching in the nerves that can lead to sciatica. This is even more prevalent in folks dealing with spinal stenosis. But there is a way to fix this. Action steps: If you tolerate ..read more

The Total Motion Release method was a way to help the rest of the body heal the sciatic nerve pain. How does it work? Why does it work? We discuss with Dean Volk, PT, MSPT who’s whole platform is helping folks with sciatica pain. We talk about treatment principles, how they are applied, and the best action steps to finding a practitioner. You can find more providers who are certified in Total Motion Release here: https://totalmotionrelease.com/ You can check out Dean’s Work and get in contact with him at https://sciaticareliefnow.net/ Are you looking for a more affordable way to manage your p ..read more

Knee arthritis and pain? Considering a knee replacement? We interview Tony Maritato, physical therapist and host of the amazing YouTube channel Total Therapy Solutions we talk all things knee replacements and rehab! Listen on Apple Podcast HERE. Interested in our rehab by text message program? Check it out here at ptpatientadvocate.com Have a question specifically for Ashley? You can email him at ashley@dragonphysicaltherapy.com. Check us out at ashleyjmak.com The post The Guide to Knee Replacements appeared first on Ifixyoursciatica.com - Virtual Physical Therapy For Sciatica Relief ..read more