The Nerve of Sciatica: The Why, the How, the Resolution

By Dr. Molly Casey

Back pain that leads into leg pain can be debilitating. When it is chronic, even if not severe, it has a way of simply gnawing away at the quality of daily life. Many times, common go-to treatments lack the results of pain relief and certainly of correcting the problem. Let chiropractic help relieve the pain and, more importantly, correct the problem.

Sciatica

Sciatica is a term that is widely overused -- often incorrectly. The term is broad and refers to pain that travels the associated path of the sciatic nerve, which is a group of nerves that starts in the low back/buttocks region and runs down the backside of the leg. The associated pain moves from the low back and buttocks and travels into the back of the thigh; it can go into the calf and even into the foot and certain toes.

Symptoms and Causes

Pain isn’t the only symptom one can feel when having issues with the sciatic nerve. There can be numbness, tingling, and weakness all traveling the same path of that nerve. Often associated is low back pain and consistent buttocks pain that can be electric and sharp when trying to stand up.

Causes of the nerve irritation can vary. While chronic tightness or trauma to specific muscles can elicit symptoms from portions of the nerve, if one is experiencing full blown irritation from the low back or buttocks down, often the culprit is originating directly from the spine. Some of the spinal irritating factors can be joints that are misaligned and not moving through their full range of motion, spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal), and degenerative discs or joints, among other factors.

Chiropractic and Sciatica

Can sciatica get better without drugs or surgery? Can chiropractic help? Yes to all of these questions. Most of the causal factors of sciatica are directly correlated back to the health and movement of the spine. Chiropractic directly addresses the health and motion of the spinal joints through the chiropractic adjustment. And as a real treat, there is the added bonus that the rest of your overall health and communication system improves as well.

When the spine doesn’t move through its full range of motion for long periods of time, the bones and joints start to decay. Canals that were once wide become smaller. The body must then work much harder to get the same or less work done, and the cycle worsens.

Chiropractic adjustments restore joint range of motion, and increase the health and mobility of the spine. In doing so, the nerves that travel in and out of the spinal canal are given the space and support needed to function optimally.

Because chiropractic also improves the communication system, it’s also common to see inflammation decrease with greater ease and in less time; as well, one can see decreased healing time, faster return to daily activities, and a decrease in pain. All of this done by removing spinal interference and allowing your body the space and chance to heal itself.

While sciatica can feel like a long-term problem with little or no relief in sight, that doesn’t need to be the case. Come see the chiropractors at The Joint Chiropractic and let us help your body heal!

Want to learn more about how chiropractic can help with sciatica pain? Visit the links below:

• Chiropractic for Sciatica Pain
• Symptoms, Causes and Treatment for Sciatica
• Battle of the Bulge: Slipped Discs and Sciatica

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