You’re not alone if you’re suffering from sciatica. This relatively common, though often misunderstood, the condition affects up to 40% of people at some time in their lives. You’re at a higher risk of developing sciatica if you experience other types of back pain. Being obese, leading a sedentary lifestyle, or smoking can all increase your risk of sciatica.
Sciatica can occur without warning. It often starts as a sudden and intense pain in your lower back. It can spread to the back of your thigh and down your leg. The sensation can include throbbing as the pain shoots from your buttocks and along one leg down to your foot. You may also experience tingling or numbness, making you unable to walk.
Sciatica expert Brian Schuessler, DC, of Pro-Active Medical Center in Niceville, Florida, provides expert diagnosis and treatment for sciatica. Dr. Schuessler offers chiropractic care, along with other effective therapies, that can improve your sciatica symptoms. The staff at Pro-Active Medical Center helps patients with targeted, innovative approaches that can deliver relief and help prevent future episodes.
Read on to find out how chiropractic care can help you find relief from painful sciatica.
Understanding sciatica
Sciatica occurs as a symptom of irritation of your sciatic nerve. Your sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body. This nerves starts at your spinal cord, then splits at the base of your spine to extend down each leg to the bottoms of your feet.
Sciatica occurs when a portion of the sciatic nerve becomes pinched or inflamed, or has pressure put on it. Since your sciatic nerve controls how you feel your legs and move, irritation can result in weakness or loss of feeling, making you unable to walk.
The inflammation or pressure that causes sciatica can originate from many sources. An episode of sciatica can start when your muscles form a knot and you’re unable to relax. The pain can radiate, or spread, affecting other locations along the course of the sciatic nerve.
A herniated disc can also cause sciatica. Other sources of sciatica include a bone spur on the spine, spinal stenosis (a narrowing of the spine), or spondylolisthesis, a condition in which one vertebra slips over another.
Chiropractic care for sciatica
While some sciatica can resolve on its own, you don’t have to wait around to feel better. You can relieve your sciatica with chiropractic care, which examines and treats conditions from a musculoskeletal perspective. After a consultation, case history, and physical examination, Dr. Schuessler identifies the cause of your symptoms to determine the most appropriate treatment.
Chiropractic care involves correcting spinal movement to reduce pain and improve function with noninvasive, drug-free therapy. If appropriate, Dr. Schuessler uses a spinal adjustment, or spinal manipulation therapy (SMT), to restore misaligned vertebrae to their proper position. In doing so, he removes the pressure off the sciatic nerve. The technique can provide immediate pain relief, improvement in your range of motion, and alleviation of muscle spasms.
Depending on your condition, you may also benefit from treatments offered in conjunction with chiropractic care. These options can include massage therapy or physical therapy.
When to seek chiropractic care
If you’re experiencing sciatica pain, you may benefit from an examination by Dr. Schuessler to confirm a diagnosis. It’s never wise to ignore ongoing, intense pain. You may benefit from chiropractic care if you have any of the following symptoms:
- Loss of balance and coordination
- Sudden clumsiness or frequent tripping
- Severe back pain during pregnancy
- Pain from an accident or violent injury
- Limited leg movement or sudden numbness
- Feeling a nodule or muscle knot beneath your skin
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
Find out more about the ways chiropractic care can treat your sciatica pain. Request an appointment online or call our office to set up a consultation.
