Sciatic Nerve Pain and How Chiropractic Care Can Help

Sciatica is nerve pain. The sciatic nerve runs from your lower spine to your heel via the buttocks and back of the leg. When inflamed, the nerve produces a radiating pain. While the pain can affect any part of the long sciatic nerve, it usually follows the path of the nerve.

You can feel discomfort anywhere along the pain spectrum. Common feelings include the following:

The pain comes and goes, though you usually feel some level of discomfort continuously. Long periods of sitting can make the sciatic nerve pain worse.

One of the most common causes for sciatica is a herniated disc. Your spine is made up of vertebrae separated by discs of flexible tissue surrounding a soft center. If the soft center gets displaced and begins to push out, the resultant condition is a herniated disc. With sciatica, the displaced disc is pushing against the sciatic nerve, causing irritation to the nerve and pain to you.

Several factors can cause a herniated disc. Age is a common factor — the hard outer portion of the disc can weaken over time, letting the soft center become displaced. You can also injure your back by lifting heavy objects improperly or twisting while lifting. Being sedentary — say, at a desk — can contribute to the issue.

Sciatic nerve pain can have other causes as well. An adjacent bone spur or tumor pressing on the nerve can also cause the pain. Internal bleeding, infection, and acute injury are serious causes of sciatic nerve pain and require medical diagnosis.

Chiropractors specialize in the treatment of the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. As such, they may be uniquely qualified to treat sciatica caused by a herniated disc.

Typically, a chiropractor starts with a comprehensive evaluation to determine if you're a good candidate for chiropractic treatment. The evaluation can include assessment of your posture and spinal alignment as well as medical history.

If you're a good candidate for chiropractic treatment for your sciatic nerve pain, you'll likely undergo manual manipulation. With this treatment, chiropractors apply a high-velocity arm thrust directly to the misaligned vertebra.  

Sometimes a misaligned pelvis can contribute further to sciatic nerve pain. When this is the case, the chiropractor might put the patient in a position to stretch the lower back and apply pressure to the sacroiliac joint to re-align the pelvis.

In addition to chiropractic adjustments to re-align the skeletal system, chiropractors often employ other treatments. These treatments can include mobilization, which is a low-velocity manipulation by way of stretches. They might also combine adjustments with massages to relieve muscle pain when the spine is re-aligned.

Some other therapies that chiropractors employ include the use of a TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) unit. Electrodes attached to the patient's body send small waves of electricity to stimulate the muscle and reduce muscle spasms. Another option for reducing muscle spasms is ultrasound, which produces a gentle heat and increases blood flow.

Other treatments for sciatic nerve pain run the gamut from over-the-counter painkillers to surgery. Painkillers such as ibuprofen help alleviate the pain, as do hot or cold compression packs. Physical activity can also alleviate the symptoms of sciatica, since the condition is exacerbated by prolonged sitting.

For serious cases of sciatica, you may need to see a medical doctor. Doctors sometimes prescribe cortisone shots to alleviate any swelling in the area. However, surgery to widen the spinal cord or remove the herniated disc may be necessary if nothing else alleviates the pain.

Don't suffer through sciatica — seek treatment for the pain. Visit Davison Chiropractic to discover if you're a good candidate for chiropractic care for sciatica.