top of page
Understanding your sciatica.
Understanding the source of your sciatica or pinched nerve is the beginning of effective chiropractic care. These are common questions related to sciatica, along with research-backed answers.
Sciatica
- 01Please read FAQ - Back pain, before start reading this section. You will need to understand your back pain first to understand your sciatica. -Pain radiating along the lumbar nerve root to the sciatic nerve, which runs down one or both legs to the feet from the lower back and hip.
- 02Misalignment, Abnormal pressure and inflammation - Abnormal pressure causes disk compression. (some aching and discomfort) - Excessive abnormal pressure will initially cause disk tear and it becomes bulging or herniated disk and starts to press the nerve root. (back pain with stiff and tight discomfort on hip and back of the thigh, some pain and discomfort goes down to leg and foot) - Continuous abnormal pressure cause leaking of disk fluid, the nucleus pulposus fluid starts to leak and brush up the dorsal nerve root ganglion. (Bulging or herniated disk) - Nerve root will be chronically inflamed because of the fluid, and it will cause more discomfort to the leg. - Inflammation will cause nerve roots to become very sensitive, results in much more severe pain with various symptoms.
- 03Let's look at the case. 42yr/Male A patient was presented with off and on chronic lower back pain in the right side of the lower back and hip with radiation to the back of the right leg, producing an intense pain throbbing, tightness, and burning behind the thigh and knee. The patient also complained of intermittent tingling and numbness on the bottom of the right foot. The pain and discomfort were aggravated when bending forward or reaching out position and prolonged sitting or driving. The patient also reported increased pain with getting out of the car. He states 10 to 20-minute walking makes him feel better for a while, but the pain comes back after he stands or sits for more than 10 minutes. The patient reported that he had lower back pain off and on for few months. Pain has increased since last week after doing some yard work. He could not sleep well for the first few days after yard work. He had to toss and turn around the bed to make himself comfortable.
- 04You will need to implement proper spinal hygiene to fix this problem. Good Posture — Maintaining a proper sitting, sleeping, and resting posture. Good Stretching — Learn to execute Mckenzie extension stretching — NOT flexion stretching Good Exercise — Learn the correct way to perform walking, jogging, and running. Limit or refrain from strengthening exercise. In most instances, you can enable yourself to fix your pain through daily spinal hygiene and routine chiropractic care.
- 05We will instruct you on the following protocols for spinal hygiene. Good Posture — We help you understand what good posture looks like and how to maintain it. We cover how to sit, sleep and rest, along with what to do or not do. Good Stretching — We explain the harmful forms of stretching that will exacerbate disk damage, and we instruct you on proper stretching techniques. Good Exercise — We explain the harmful exercises that are causing more damage to your disk and instruct you on proper beneficial exercises. We will also deliver a specific adjustment to take off the abnormal pressure on your disk and spine.
bottom of page
