This helps explain why you have sciatic pain
1- Severe Lower Back Pain 2- Back pain that radiates down into the buttocks 3- Back Pain that radiates down the leg into the foot 4- Leg Weakness when transitioning from sitting to standing 5- Numbness in the lower back and leg. 6- Painful urination or defecation 7- Increase in sciatica at night
The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body. It starts at the base of your spine. It encompasses spinal nerve innervation from L4 through the sacral nerves of S3. The nerve fibers become intertwined and form the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is very thick and goes all the way down the leg. So by addressing the spine to reduce stress on the nerve roots is where we begin to treat sciatica at Core Health Darien. The chiropractic adjustment will help reduce stress on the lumbar discs in the lower spine. Nationally accredited Cleveland Clinic reports that chiropractic care is more effective in dealing with sciatica based on patient health satisfaction surveys. The pelvis can be another source of sciatica. When the hips are misaligned there will be added stress on the spine and can irritate the spinal nerves that form the sciatic nerve root. By repositioning the pelvis we can reduce the stress on the spine, which will help with sciatica. Hands-down chiropractic care is the fastest and most powerful way to treat sciatica
Sciatica will flare up when there is instability in the spine and the nerve roots in the lumbar spine become blocked by herniated discs. Poor lifestyles will cause us to have too much stress on the back muscles leading to sciatica. Trauma to the lower back from accidents or work injuries is another cause of sciatica. Factors such as age, level of activity, and sedentary lifestyle are all reasons you can have sciatica. The characteristic feature of sciatic nerve pain will be sharp shooting severe leg pain, typically going down one leg. The pain from sciatica can become unbearable when left untreated. Patients will report more esoteric symptoms like depression and increased anxiety from chronic nerve pain. Restful sleep becomes more of a challenge with sciatica. Your body cannot heal when you lack good sleep so your overall health suffers when you have chronic sciatic nerve pain. Some people will give up and elect to have spine surgery when the pain becomes unbearable. Estimates from Pubmed indicate that 62% of spine surgery results in additional spinal surgery within 3-5 years. Since we are chiropractors and not medical doctors we approach sciatica pain differently. What is important to understand is that you are responsible for your health. As a chiropractor who treats sciatica, I can help your body perform at optimal levels so there is no nerve interference that I believe is the root cause of your sciatica.Sciatica is usually caused when a herniated disk or bone spur in the spine presses on the L5/ SI nerve root. This can be quite a painful event. Often when the patient moves there is increased pressure onto the thick sciatic nerve. The nerve forms from the spine at the L5/S1 levels and can be trapped by the piriformis muscle. The sciatic nerve passes thru the sciatic notch. Pain originates in the spine and radiates down the back of the leg. Sciatica typically affects only one side of the body. Chronic hip subluxations can put added pressure onto the sciatic nerve. A stable base is indicated to properly support the spine. The pelvis is foundational in its support of the axial skeleton. Chiropractors can help people with sciatic nerve pain by reducing subluxations and restoring the pelvis to its proper position.
Exercise is probably the last thing you will want to do when you have sciatica. The nerve is the biggest and longest nerve in the body. When the spinal nerve is trapped exercise will traction the spinal nerve sending a jolt of pain down the leg. Rest is in order to give sciatica a chance to calm down. Some people think walking is good for sciatica, but I disagree. You are pulling on the nerve as you extend the heel. Let's get the fiery pain of sciatica under control so do not walk or exercise until sciatic symptoms quiet down significantly.
Sciatica pain can ebb and flow. When the pressure on the nerve is light there may be less pain. The sciatica patient thinks that the problem is solved. Or should I say they hope the sciatica is solved? When the underlying structure of the spine is not in balance there is a high probability that your sciatica is still an issue. Pain is only one symptom of sciatica so when people take Advil or Aleve and the pain is reduced they can be lulled into a fall sense of security thinking their sciatica is cured. We must address the spine structurally to prevent sciatica flare-ups. This is why chiropractic care can help sciatica like no other profession.
It can be difficult finding a position to sleep in when you are having a bout of sciatica. You may find a comfortable position and then turn in your sleep and find that the sciatica is roaring back at you. Sleep can be the worst time for sciatic pain because you cannot prepare yourself for sudden movements. My suggestion is that you sleep with a pillow between the legs. Start laying on the side of your sciatica first. See if you can drift off to sleep. If your sciatica flares up then try laying down on the side opposite of your sciatica. If that fails try lying on your back, but keep the pillow between your knees for added support. When on your back brings your knees up and together, hold your spine tight, especially the lower spine, and press your knees together. This action can release the pelvic bones and help with sciatica.
Chiropractic care for the L5/S1 nerve begins with taking pressure off the L5/S1 disc. This is done by a chiropractic adjustment followed by Cold Laser Therapy, to help fire up the nerve that has been impinged thus irritating the sciatic nerve. When the sciatic pain starts to subside Core Health Darien will start decompression therapy to allow the disc to heal at the spinal level, often the beginning point of sciatica. No treatment plan is complete without a home exercise program to allow the nerves, muscles, discs, and bones to heal properly when all the offending impingements are relieved. Chiropractic care is an excellent choice to eliminate sciatica pain. Core Health Darien wants to help you get better fast from sciatic nerve issues. Call 203-656-3636 now.
If the patient follows thru with sciatic treatment recommendations from Core Health Darien they will see a dramatic improvement in pain levels. There are several added benefits to the sciatic regimen from Core Health Darien. Most of our patients are able to resume pain-free. life. Almost all report much-improved sleep quality as well. If you decide that you would like to try our treatment for sciatica call us at 203-656-3636. Dress in comfortable clothes and bring your MRI imaging studies that diagnosed sciatica.
Pain coming from the sciatic nerve can last a few hours and can last for years. When you have back pain and the pain disappears patients wrongly feel that the problem is solved. If you consider it from their perspective, the pain gone is the solution why would you seek medical advice at this point? When the nerve pain continues to return there comes a time when you may need to seek medical advice for surgery if you want to resolve the pain permanently. So the pain can last for a few days or the pain can last a lifetime it depends on the patient's motivation to stay healthy. Again if you have pain that keeps returning, go see a medical doctor and find out what is wrong. Your call, your health choose wisely.
Sciatica can go away on its own in a mild acute stage of sciatica. My experience has shown that sciatica will be likely to return if the pelvic and lower back instability is not addressed. Patients report several episodes of varying degrees that can turn into chronic sciatica if the symptoms are ignored. The risk of ignoring the symptoms of sciatica is if there is an underlying metastatic condition causing the pain associated with sciatica. Any time you have prolonged pain it is best to see your medical doctor to get solid advice. Delaying proper diagnosis is a problem when patients with sciatica who rely on medication as a treatment repeatedly. There is a good chance that sciatica will progress and cause widespread degeneration in the spinal joints in the lower back.
When sciatica is acute bedrest may be the only option available to reduce pressure on the sciatic nerve. The problem with bed rest is that muscles can start to deteriorate in a few days' time. The muscles that support the spine are overworked when sciatica is present with a subluxated pelvis. The chiropractic adjustment will help realign the offending spinal bones that ultimately cause sciatica. I encourage people to consume lots of water when on bed rest for sciatica. The water will help keep the body lubricated and will also force you to get up and use the bathroom. Bedrest to help ease sciatica should not go longer than three days. If your sciatica is that bad after three days perhaps you may need to go to the hospital emergency room.
Most Medical doctors will prescribe muscle relaxers to ease the tension in the lower back. This can stop the pain nicely. Since medical doctors see so many patients with back pain they tend to ignore structural deficits that lead to a herniated disc. Some in the medical profession will inject cortisone to stop inflammation in the lower back spinal joints. Most medical doctors have shied away from prescribing opioids for back pain symptoms. Opioids are way too dangerous to use. They are effective at covering symptoms but can easily get a patient hooked on them. A good medical doctor is aware of the dangers that opioids for spinal-related back pain are not in the patient's best interest. Surgery is the last option for chronic back pain of all types. There are cases of lower back pain that may require surgery to resolve the problem. Surgery can be avoided and health can be restored with proper chiropractic care. Core Health Darien has been around for over thirty years delivering a natural solution for back pain, especially back pain due to sciatica.
Standard American Lifestyle is a major reason people lack good health and have back pain among many other diseases. We are overweight. We do not exercise enough. We probably do not sleep enough. While I am at it we do not care about our health enough. It is pretty easy to ignore back pain if it goes away simply by taking some medication. Proper diet and exercise along with adequate rest can prevent many health conditions that plague Americans in general. It is so easy to ignore symptoms even though the symptoms are telling you that your health is in jeopardy. Let the symptoms go unattended and you look for surgery to bail you out. We must take charge of our own health. The absence of symptoms does not imply that we are healthy. With a spine that is subluxation free we offer a natural solution to relieving your back pain.
You are invited to come try out Non-invasive Spinal Decompression for your back or neck pain.