Sciatica 101
Sciatica is not a medical diagnosis all on its own, but rather a symptom of other underlying medical conditions such as a lumbar herniated disc, degenerative disc disease or spinal stenosis. The pain has been characterized by a combination of constant pain on one side of the buttock or leg, pain that increases while sitting down, leg pain described as burning, tingling or searing, weakness or numbness of the leg and foot, and a sharp pain that makes it hard to stand up, walk, or stand in one place for large amounts of time.
Symptoms of Sciatica mostly happen when the large sciatic nerve becomes flattened or irritated inside of the lumbar spine. Being the largest and widest nerve in the body, it is made of individual nerve roots that branch out from the spine in the lower back. It starts in the lower back and lumbar segment 3 (L3) runs from the lower back, through the buttock, and down the back of each leg. Depending on the symptoms and where the numbness, tingling, and weakness is happening depends on where the sciatic nerve is being pinched in the body. Although the pain felt with sciatica can be very severe, most patients can seek chiropractic care treatment and can experience great pain relief in about six weeks.
Chiropractic care is a non-evasive and drug free treatment option for sciatica. The goal of chiropractic treatments is to restore the movement of the spine. Doctors of Chiropractic want to improve function and decrease pain and inflammation. Depending on what is causing your sciatica pain, different chiropractic treatment methods and options are available to you. Most Chiropractors will focus on spinal adjustments, ice/heat therapy, ultrasound, TENS, and rehabilitative exercises and stretches.
