Sciatica is a common and painful condition that many may not realize they are living with. Sciatic pain often begins in the lower back and travels down the back of the leg and into the foot. Without treatment, sciatica can continue to worsen and the pain can become debilitating. Finding treatment plans, like chiropractic care, can be life-changing. In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at what this condition means and how seeking out the help at Legacy Spine and Sport can change the role sciatica pain plays in your life.
Sciatica is a condition where the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in the body, has become compressed. This sends pain along the length of the nerve. Typically, this pain will only affect one leg, though, it could cause pain in both. This condition makes it difficult to stand or sit for a long period of time. It can be a very painful condition to live with and make daily tasks difficult. Pain isn’t the only symptom. Sciatica symptoms can include numbness or muscle weakness in the leg and/or foot, a burning sensation, or a pins and needles sensation.
Symptoms may be consistent, but will often come and go over the period of someone’s life. It’s important to seek out treatment to help deal with this condition. It is also important because, when left untreated, further damage could happen to the nerve. By dealing with the compression, you can prevent the long term worsening of symptoms.
You may be wondering how sciatica happens in the first place. There are three main causes that contribute to sciatica symptoms.
In the case of spinal misalignment, many scenarios could bring this on. A sudden event like a sports injury or car accident could have occurred. However, in most cases, it is consistent microtraumas and long term stress events, like poor posture or repetitive dysfunctional movement, that create the issue at hand. When the vertebrae of the spine are misaligned, pressure is put on the nerves that make up the large sciatic nerve, creating the symptoms you may be feeling.
Many nerve roots from the low back all converge together within the pelvis and create the large sciatic nerve as we know it. However, what many people do not know is that this large nerve actually pierces right through the muscle belly of the piriformis muscle. This is a smaller muscle that functions very closely to what our glute (butt) muscles do. If our piriformis muscle becomes too contracted or over active, this tightening of the muscle directly pinches the sciatic nerve that is running right through it. We have the best treatment strategies for this cause of sciatic pain!
The common disc bulge that people experience can occur from either a quick traumatic event, or can be from a constant overuse and repetitive motion stress. Simply put here, the disc bulge that is occurring is directly putting pressure on the nerve(s) that are supplying the sciatic nerve and creating the symptoms you may be experiencing.
Chiropractors work to keep the body properly aligned. With sciatica patients, they will work to discover the source of their pain, intensity, and frequency. With a full patient history, they will work with the patient to create a long term treatment plan to work toward natural alignment for the body. They do this through small adjustments to the joints and other therapeutic remedies that have been proven to be safe and effective to keep you away from medications, needle injections, and surgeries.
The results will be different for every patient struggling with sciatica pain. Depending on how long the condition has been a problem and how badly damaged the nerve is, it may take longer for some patients to get back into alignment and find full relief. Fortunately, relief is still possible. Seeking out treatment as soon as possible to prevent further damage and lessen the amount of time it takes to correct is the best plan. Once a chiropractor has restored the joints and tissues, patients find that their overall health and quality of life improves greatly.
Don’t suffer through sciatica pain alone. Get Legacy Spine and Sport on your side. Contact our office today to achieve the level of health you deserve.