Sciatica Treatment

Do you suffer from pain or numbness in your low back, hip, or leg? 

If you do, you might have sciatica.  Sciatica can be very painful and even disabling. 

The good news is that chiropractic can be an effective treatment for this common problem. 

What is sciatica? 

Sciatica is caused by pressure or irritation of the sciatic nerve.  The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body, and it travels from your spinal cord to your leg, passing through the buttocks and hip.  Because the sciatic nerve is so large, and because it passes through so many parts of the body, it’s vulnerable to getting pinched or irritated. 

What are the symptoms of sciatica? 

Sciatica can be experienced as a burning or shooting pain, numbness, aching, or a tingling sensation that can be felt in the lower back, the buttocks, the hip, or the leg and foot.  It’s usually only experience on one side of the body. 

This pain can make it very difficult to sit, stand, or walk.  Chronic sciatic pain can result in poor posture or pain in the other parts of the body as you might alter your gait or compensate for the pain in your hip or leg. 

What causes sciatica? 

Sciatic pain is not an actual diagnosis itself but a symptom of a larger problem.  In most cases sciatic nerve pain is the result in some mechanical misalignment of the body.  This misalignment puts pressure on the nerve which creates inflammation and pain. 

The sciatic nerve can be pinched or irritated in the lower back, by the muscles in the buttocks, the hip or it might be caused by direct trauma to the nerve.  In some cases, sciatica can be the result of a more serious health problem so it’s very important to have it checked out. 

How can chiropractic help? 

Chiropractic can be an effective treatment for sciatica because we get to the root of the problem rather than just treating the symptoms.  In the case of sciatica, we’ll first do a careful examination to determine the actual cause of the nerve pressure or irritation. 

Next, we’ll work to correct the problem using a variety of proven therapeutic techniques.  Once we start to correct your body’s mechanics and remove the compression on the nerve, the irritation will be reduced, and the nerve will begin to heal. 

Recovery time is different for each patient and depends on your level of health and fitness and how long you’ve been in pain.  Chronic sciatica can take some time to treat because of the scar tissue in the region and the clinical effects of chronic nerve irritation.  You don’t have to suffer from sciatica.  Give our office a call at 775-329-4402 and schedule a consultation today to see if we can help you.