I have a friend with sciatica. It interferes with everything she does. Work, home and social life suffer because of the pain her sciatic causes her. There are some days she can barely walk. I’ve been working with her to improve her diet, reduce the internal inflammation, and stop muscle spasms. I am teaching her herbal and non herbal ways to reduce pain. She’s pretty good about following my suggestion and trying new things, and she was seeing improvements.
A few weeks ago, while I was researching high calcium herbs for my book, I ran across an entry in The Way of Herbs, by Micheal Tierra, L.Ac., O.M.D that said devil’s claw is used specifically for sciatica, among other things. I’ve used devil’s claw for arthritis and headaches, but never for sciatica. So, I had her read the entry and she decided to go out and get some devil’s claw.
She’s been taking devil’s claw daily since Thanksgiving, and the results have been amazing. She can climb steps again. She is in so much less pain and can do so many more things than she could before. It’s been simply wonderful for her. I’ve noticed that she seems to have much more energy, and her attitude and general outlook has improved, too. She’s still working to improve her diet and reduce the internal and external inflammation, but she’s no longer in constant pain, and she no longer needs her cane.
The image above is of Devil’s Claw, scientific name: Harpogophytum procumbens. Image copyright information © Secrétariat CITES