The Signs Of Sciatic Nerve Pain
Are you experiencing a sharp, piercing pain from your legs up to your lower back? The chances are that you have Sciatica. Sciatic nerve pain, also known as Sciatica, can result from disc herniation, a trapped nerve, or Piriformis syndrome. Sciatica can affect anyone but it is especially common in pregnant women. Some of its common symptoms include:
- Pain in one leg that worsens whenever you are sitting or squatting
- Burning or tingling feeling in the affected leg
- Difficulty moving the leg due to weakness or numbness
- Chronic pain on one side of the lower back
- Sudden pain when standing up
All Hands On Deck: Motion Is Lotion When It Comes To Chiropractic Therapy
People often tell me they dont know how they hurt theirback, says Dr. Bang. Thats usually a blaring sign that muscle weakness ortightness is to blame, which is typical given how much sitting we all do.
Muscles are made up of thousands of small fibers, like arope created from several small strands of string. With both overuse andunderuse, the muscle fibers contract and also influence nearby fibers tocontract.
What happens next? A painful knot of muscles, known as atrigger point, forms.
Trigger points can pinch the sciatic nerve, causing anintense, radiating pain down the back and legs, says Dr. Bang. But triggerpoints respond well to deep pressure that squeezes the muscle fibers and causesthem to relax.
He adds, We also know manual therapy like massage canreduce the levels of inflammation-causing compounds near the trigger point.
What Is This Condition
In the vast majority of cases, sciatica is caused by a herniated or slipped disc. This is when one of the intervertebral discs that sit between the bones of the spine is damaged and presses on the nerves. Another common cause of sciatica is Piriformis syndrome. Piriformis syndrome is named after the piriformis muscle. This muscle is located in the pelvis, connects to the thighbone, and assists in hip rotation. The sciatic nerve runs beneath the piriformis muscle. This muscle is susceptible to injury from a slip and fall, hip arthritis, or a difference in leg length. Such situations can cause cramping and spasm to develop in the piriformis muscle. The spasm causes pinching of the sciatic nerve leading to inflammation and pain.
Less common causes include spinal stenosis , a spinal injury or infection, or a growth within the spine . You can minimise your risk of developing a slipped disc or back injury that could lead to sciatica by adopting a better posture and lifting techniques at work, as well as stretching before and after exercise, and exercising regularly.
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What Causes Sciatic Nerve Pain
There are a number of common causes including:
- Bulging Disc or Herniated Disc: This occurs when the soft jelly interior of the disc pushes out through a tear in the exterior disc.
- Trauma: Such as sports injuries, car or motorcycle accidents
- Spinal Tumors: Although rare, a tumor can cause compression on the sciatic nerve.
- Spondylolisthesis: Usually affects the lumbar spine, where one vertebra slips over another.
- Piriformis Syndrome: This develops when muscles spasm in the Piriformis muscle and compress the sciatic nerve.
- Spinal Stenosis: Nerve compression disorder
- Pelvic injury or fracture: Falling or even twisting the pelvis while lifting can cause sciatic pain.
How A Chiropractor Can Help With Sciatica In Littleton And Columbine
If you are experiencing a shooting, piercing pain that runs from the lower back down to the legs, you are probably suffering from sciatica pain. Sciatic is the longest nerve in the body running from the buttocks right down to the toes. The nerve can experience pain whenever you have a trapped nerve, disc herniation, Piriformis syndrome, or trigger point referral. Typically, symptoms of sciatica include the following:
- Leg pain that worsens when sitting
- Tingling or burning running down the leg
- Numbness, weakness, or difficulties moving the foot or entire leg
- A consistent pain on one side of your lower back
- An intense and intolerable pain that makes it hard to stand up
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Chiropractic Treatment For Sciatica: Not Recommended
Anyone with Sciatic back pain looks for a Chiropractic Appointment to relieve themselves from this vicious pain,
But Does it actually work?
I Booked an appointment, and the results were fascinating.
Hi, Im Felicia, 31, Ive been struggling with back pain ever since I was 28, and all these years, I was just done with myself, but everything changed a few weeks back .
I will share everything you need to know about Chiropractic Treatment For Sciatica and how they can help you with sciatica.
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Chiropractic And Osteopathy For Sciatica
First thing to know is that neither chiropractic nor osteopathy can repair a herniated or slipped disc. Once this damage has occurred it is permanent. However, about 15% of the population have disc damage that they are unaware of due to lack of pain. What disc damage will cause is a loss of function in the spine at that level causing other structures to carry more than their fair share of load. Our aim is to relieve the pressure on the sciatic nerve whether a herniated disc or a spasm of the piriformis muscle causes it. To do so, we obviously will work on your low back but thats not all.
As part of our concept of the body as a unit, we might need to work on the whole spine, the pelvis and even your limbs. We look at the body as a whole, rather than just where the symptoms are. As such we may assess the whole body as we care for you, and use only the most effective options out of a range of treatments for this chronic condition.
In addition, we might also give you some advices about posture or some exercises to strengthen your body to make sure your dont do any relapse. If you want to learn more about it and meet our fantastic clinic team in Caversham, Reading, please call Reflex Spinal Health at 0118 946 2100 today!
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Sciatica Chiropractor Or Physiotherapist
Sciatica is a disorder caused by the pinching or compression of a root of the spinal nerve in the lower back that runs through the leg. People with sciatica describe their symptoms in different ways, such as achy, sharp, and dull ache, or even a tingling sensation. Others have complained of a tingling or burning feeling as well. Sciatica affects the hips, lower back, and legs along the sciatic nerve, which is the longest in the body. Many conditions can lead to sciatica, such as bulging or herniated disc, osteoarthritis spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and pregnancy. Thankfully, a sciatica chiropractor or physiotherapist can treat sciatica pain. Here are a few ways physiotherapy and chiropractic can treat pain caused by sciatica.
Adjustments
Spinal manipulation and decompression therapy have been used to treat sciatica as well as pain in the back, neck, arms, and legs in chiropractic patients. These non-surgical treatment options correct misalignments, relieve pressure on intervertebral discs, joints, and nerves, and release limited spinal movements to get your body back into position while relieving pain. Chiropractic adjustments are straightforward and safe and should cause little or no pain.
Exercise
Ultrasound
Massage
Hot/Cold Compression
What Is Sciatic Nerve Pain
Sciatica is not a condition, but a symptom of other problems involving your sciatic nerve. In the last few years, many people have adopted Chiropractic treatment for sciatic nerve pain. Before we discuss its benefits, let us give an overview of different types of sciatica. There are two different types of sciatica:
Acute Sciatica or Short Term Most of the time, acute sciatica does not require any professional treatment. Its symptoms may be easily reduced with some over the counter medications combined with cold and hot packs, and some exercise.
Chronic Sciatica or Long Term On the other hand, chronic sciatica requires physical therapy. You may have to apply heat, perform exercises and use other techniques. In severe cases, surgery may also be required. However, chiropractic treatment for sciatica is a natural alternative for nerve pain relief and has been proven to be quite beneficial for most patients.
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How Massage Therapy And Chiropractic Can Relieve Sciatica Pain
The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in your body and travels down the sacral area, buttocks and back of your leg. It is formed from nerve roots in the lower back and sacral region. Massage therapy can be quite effective in treating the sciatica pain.
In a recent study of 400 people with low back pain and sciatica pain one group received therapeutic massage and the other group was a control group included a combination of other alternative therapies.
Ten weeks later, the massage patients reported better functioning and less pain. More than a third of them said their pain was completely or nearly gone, while only 4% of those in the other group reported such improvement.
Chiropractic adjustments combined with massage therapy can also relieve sciatica pain by reducing nerve pressure in the lumbar spine. improvimg spinal posture and reducing myofascial trigger points in the piriformis muscle.
Discover the benefits of chiropractic care with a Back Vacation A first time new patient visit including consultation, exam, x-rays if needed and first treatment is only $29. Experience relief from therapeutic massage with a Massage Vacation– a 30 minute massage for only $29.
Written by Dr. Dan Davidson, chiropractic and founder of the Back Resort & Rejuvenation Health Center BackResort.com – 540 389 2225
What Does The Science Tell Us
These authors investigated whether seeing a chiropractor for treatment of back pain or sciatica resulted in increased occurrence of herniated disc requiring them to go for surgery. They compared those patients seeing a chiropractor for their back pain to those that saw their family doctor for their back pain.
The assumption was that those who saw their family doctor did not receive any manual therapy and those who saw the chiropractor likely would.
The authors investigated all adults who visited an emergency department with acute LDH that went on to require early surgical intervention from April 1994 to December 2004. They compared those that had seen a chiropractor prior to the emergency room visit versus those that had not. They also compared this to those who had seen their primary care provider prior to visiting the emergency room.
As you can imagine, this was an enormous patient population they studied. The number of people, as measured in person-years was over 100 million person-years. Try wrapping your head around that number!
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Takeaway: Does Chiropractic Care Help With Sciatica Pain
If you feel a constant pain originating in your lower back and running down your buttocks and legs, you may be experiencing sciatica pain. This common health problem is caused when the sciatic nerve is pinched or compressed, leading to mild or intense pain. While this is not a critical, life-threatening health condition, sciatica pain can severely affect the quality of your everyday life and make daily tasks much more challenging.
Luckily, there are treatment options available for those living with sciatica pain. One of the most effective and safest treatments is by receiving chiropractic care. A chiropractors office can perform chiropractic adjustments or even offer massage therapy to help relieve the sciatica pain and improve your overall health and wellness. Dont suffer silently from your sciatica pain. Reach out to a nearby chiropractor to see how they can help.
Adam Mulligan did his degree in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. He is interested in mental health and well-being.
Psychreg is mainly for information purposes only materials on this website are not intended to be a substitute for professional advice. Dont disregard professional advice or delay in seeking treatment because of what you have read on this website. Read our full disclaimer.
Chiropractic Care Aligning Your Spine
Chiropractic treatment is performed by a Doctor of Chiropractic who is trained and certified through a specialized university program. This treatment involves the manipulation and adjustment of the musculoskeletal system, which includes the spine, muscles, tendons and surrounding joints.
Chiropractic treatment focuses primarily on the alignment of the spine and specific joints. To relieve pain, chiropractors use their hands or a chiropractic adjustment tool to apply controlled pressure to an affected area. Common pain points chiropractic care can be used to treat include the lower back, neck and even headaches.
Since the spine is the main focus of chiropractic treatment, examinations generally require X-rays or other lab tests to pinpoint problem areas. Spinal health is extremely important because the spinal cord acts as an extension of the bodys central nervous system, which communicates messages throughout the entire body. Since spinal alignment requires such precise manipulation, its best to receive professional treatment for symptoms related to spinal or surrounding joint pain. Depending on your circumstance, a chiropractor may work with your family doctor or other recommended specialists throughout treatment to ensure healing progress.
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Chiropractic Care Is A Safe Reliable Treatment For Sciatica
One of the initial benefits of using chiropractic care to treat sciatica is that the approach is conservative. While medical doctors tend to treat symptoms of sciatica with prescription medication , a chiropractor treats the underlying causes to help relieve the pain without drugs.
Plus, with medical doctors, surgery is on the table as an option. And once youve undergone surgery, there is no returning to a level of function youd consider normal. Chiropractic care encourages the bodys own internal healing process, allowing you time to heal more naturally.
There is solid research that supports the effectiveness of chiropractic care in the treatment of sciatica. Spine magazine published a study in 2006 that showed how chiropractic adjustments were able to help relieve sciatic pain. And another study, published in 2010, showed that 60 percent of sciatica patients experienced the same level of relief due to chiropractic care as did those who eventually had surgery.
Why You Should See A Vancouver Wa Chiropractor For Sciatica Treatment
Nerve pain is some of the most intense pain you can have. And because the sciatic nerve is the largest in the body, its no wonder why impingement of this nerve is so debilitating.
But because the sciatica originates in the lower back, chiropractors can offer a sciatica treatment that actually works. In fact, this is oftentimes the preferred form of treatment.
A chiropractor can gently adjust the spine to eliminate nerve impingement. Additionally, massage therapy can reduce pain, as can specific therapeutic exercises, which your chiropractor can train you to do properly.
Because a pinched nerve is an inflamed nerve, your chiropractor will likely encourage you to include hot and cold compress therapy at home.
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When To Pay A Visit To A Chiropractor
Patients who are suffering the pain described above are encouraged to see a chiropractor. If the pain is sudden and severe, and does not go away after a couple days, chiropractic treatment can relieve the pain and other symptoms. The same is true if the pain begins after an impact injury or accident.
Can Chiropractic Care Make My Sciatica Worse
Of course, the last thing you want to do if you are suffering from sciatic nerve pain is somehow make your pain worse through treatment. Many people, unfamiliar with chiropractic care, find it intimidating at first and wonder whether the practice is safe. Chiropractic care, however, is considered a conservative treatment plan for many causes of sciatica, and any risks are minimal.
In a study on the Safety of spinal manipulation in the treatment of lumbar disk herniations, the most common cause of sciatica, published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics by Drew Oliphant, it was found that the risk of spinal manipulation causing clinical worsening in disk herniation or cauda equina syndrome was less than 1 in 3.7 million. The study concluded that spinal manipulation is safe, particularly when compared to other medically accepted treatments for lumbar disk herniations, and supported its practice as a conservative treatment option.
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Heat And Cold Therapies
The alternative heat and cold therapy are being used by chiropractors that work wonders offering instant relief from sciatica pain. The heat helps in releasing tighter muscles dulling the agonizing pain. The cold therapies or treatments will reduce the flow of blood, which helps in soothing the inflamed symptoms. The Chiropractor understands the treatment is suited for you irrespective of whether you can use both or often that alternates them.
Using Ultrasound And Spinal Adjustments
Using sound waves to generate gentle heat, chiropractors can penetrate deep into the tissues and attempt to resolve the issue that causes the muscle spasms and/or swelling that led to sciatica.
Spinal adjustments are another treatment option. Manipulating the spine will help improve movement in the area while placing misaligned vertebrae into their proper positions in the spine. The specific technique used by a chiropractor will depend on the nature of pain experienced by the patient and the initial diagnosis.
Anyone who is experiencing pain that could indicate sciatica should see a chiropractor for treatment. It can provide real and permanent relief without resorting to medication.
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Sciatica Pain Relief From Tracy’s Best Chiropractor
Sciatic is a frustrating and often misunderstood pain condition that can have a serious impact on your quality of life. If you are suffering from chronic or radiating pain, it is important to know that effective treatment options are available for managing this pain that do not require medication or surgery. Our Tracy chiropractor Dr. Ringer has helped hundreds of patients just like you safely manage their sciatica pain symptoms through chiropractic care. Our custom treatment programs integrate spinal adjustments with complementary therapies for enhanced pain relief.
What Causes Sciatica Pain?
Sciatica occurs when a herniated or slipped disc in the lumbar spine compresses the sciatic nerve. This compression can trigger a radiating pain sensation along the length of the nerve. The sciatic nerve is one of the longest in the body, stretching from the lower back through the buttocks and down the leg. Consequently, a seemingly minor misalignment in the lumbar spine can lead to serious health problems affecting not only the lower back, but also other parts of the body. Common symptoms of sciatic pain include a throbbing, numbing, burning or radiating pain sensation from the lower back through the buttocks and down the legs. However, sciatic pain can be slightly different for every patient.
Tracy Chiropractic Care Relieves Sciatica Symptoms & Manages Pain