Sciatica
What is Sciatica?
Sciatica is a condition that can lead to pain in the back and legs, radiating along the sciatic nerve. This nerve can be found running down one or both legs from the lower back. Pain will often begin when a herniated disc or bone spur in the spine places pressure on the nerve. The pain then shoots down the spine and through the back of the leg, typically only affecting one side of the body.
Sciatica can be caused by many stresses on the body, however it’s primary caused by misalignment of the lower spine and pelvis. This creates interference on the sciatic nerve. Typically, traumatic events are not linked to sciatica, however our Chiropractors are trained to diagnose the underlying problems and are happy to refer you to other health professionals should the treatment be outside chiropractic knowledge.
What can a Chiropractor do?
We do not recommend waiting for treatment as waiting periods whilst dealing with sciatica can cause long term damage to your body. You should contact your chiropractor when the pain first begins. Sciatica can affect every moment of your life, with such things as getting out of bed or using the bathroom becoming an exercise that puts you in pain. Usually when dealing with sciatica patients, our methods do not involve just spinal and pelvic adjustments.
We can look at other ways to help reduce your pain as well as methods you can use at home to alleviate pain. Sometimes simply walking and moving for some patients is enough, while others may need to undertake exercises with a ball. Sciatica causes its damage to the body over a great deal of time and often comes as the result of neglecting the lumbar spine. In order for the condition to be treated correctly, maintenance of the lumbar spine should be done to prevent sciatica in the first place.
The success of treatments will depend on the individual and the techniques being used by our chiropractors. Success is also linked to how long the patient has experienced the symptoms, the amount of degeneration occurring in the patient and on what type of pain the patient is experiencing.