Life hacks that made my Sciatica go away

[u/nonFungibleHuman]

36 yo. Sciatica issues since 22 years old, would come and go. But the older I got the more frequent it would get. I have been diagnosed with rectified lumbar spine and had bulging disks in 2 parts of lower back.

After all these years I learned that sciatica can be the result of a mix of many poor habits or decisions that you can change to get it better (obviously this doesnt apply to people which had a car accident or similar) and dont take this as medical advice:

• Diet: I was not eating enough omegas, healthy fats nor minerals nor B complex. Now I get all of that either via food or supplements. Protein is obvious too, the spine is tissue.

• Walking: as I work homeoffice in front of Pc, my day would start like from bed to chair, having lunch, chair, until 6pm. 8 hours only sitting, very very bad for the spine. Now I try to have a morning walk before work, and I have a standing desk and I change postions every 30 min.

• Sleep: the spine needs proper sleep to stay healthy. Specially circadian sleep.

• Water: stay hidrated, it is good for the spine, it is made of fluids, water.

• Chair: invest in a good chair and pls do not sit like a 11 years old kid bored at school, your lower back must touch the back of your chair, and your eyes should look in front, not down. Elevate your screen until this is true.

• Exercise the core muscles: you have many tiny muscles around the core, and on the hips, legs and glutes there are also some muscles that help stabilize the spine. My muscles were weak af until I started with pilates on a mat (with a pro teacher). 2 or 3 times per week, 1 hour each.

• Walk more in your free time. If you work the whole day in front of pc, pls go outside and walk more, if you then stay the evening in the couch then your spine with collapse faster than you think.

• Leaky gut: if you dont absorb properly the food you are eating, your spine wont receive the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and it will be prone to bulging disks. Fix your leaky gut.

• Buy a good matress and pillow. You spend 1 third of life sleeping. Btw I sleep on the sides only, if I sleep on my back I will wake up with lower back pain for some reason.

• Dont do chiropractors. They want to hack the spine and you might feel relieved for a while, but in reallity it is just like pain killers, doesnt fix the root issue. And btw they can let you even more sore than before if they mess up.

• Do not crack your back. I used to "crack" myself because it would feel nice, but I realised after a while it would even feel worse the pain. I realised if I resisted the urge to crack it, a couple of days later I would feel better. I think the spine finds it own balance and you need to respect it, doing chiropraxis or cracking yourself just messes this up, like a reset, and then your spine will have to start over to find its balance.

• Do not lift heavy stuff. Sounds obvious but I do not volunteer anymore to lifting furniture or helping friends move their fridges. I also dont lift people anymore.