Finding pain relief for sciatica can be a challenging journey.
Do you have a searing pain that travels down the back of your leg and feels like it starts in your low back or bottom?
Then you may be experiencing sciatica – and pain relief is a high priority.
Often doing the things we love, like playing golf, catching up with friends, even merely getting out of bed, can be difficult and uncomfortable.
If you are, or have ever, experienced sciatica – pain relief is your biggest focus.
Before we talk about pain relief, let’s understand what sciatica is.
Sciatica signs & symptoms
The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body – running from the base of the spine all the way down the leg.
As the sciatic nerve descends from the spine downwards, it splits into small nerves – which can make localising the exact level of where the sciatica is occurring difficult.
The biggest misconception about sciatica is that it is not a condition or diagnosis.
Sciatica is a term used to describe a set of signs and symptoms that a patient experiences.
Most commonly, sciatica is felt in the lower back, with radiating discomfort through the hip, glutes and leg.
Sciatica only affects one side of the body at a time.
At some point throughout our lives we all experience this kind of discomfort.
Women during their pregnancy often experience sciatic like signs and symptoms due to changes in weight bearing, increased weight and other postural shifts that irritate the sciatica nerve.
Sciatica usually takes months and years to arise – until finally all the underlying stress and dysfunction impacts the nervous system and irritates the sciatic nerve.
Signs that your sciatica could be a medical emergency
-Severe worsening or pain and numbness of both legs
-Involuntary urination
-Sexual dysfunction
Sciatica causes
Sciatica if generally due to a multitude of different factors.
As chiropractors we most frequently see patients whose sciatica is due to irritation of impingement of the sciatic nerve, and/or nerve roots.
Underlying the irritation and impingement of the sciatic nerve can be the following complicating factors:
- Anterolisthesis/retrolisthesis of a lumbar vertebra
- Degenerative changes
- Piriformis syndrome
- Disc space narrowing
What is the underlying cause of sciatica?
What causes one person to experience sciatica, while the next person does not?
Signs and symptoms like sciatica, are similar to other pain and discomfort that a person can experience – they are all considered secondary effects of a central underlying cause – what could be termed ‘collateral damage’.
Most frequently the underlying cause of sciatica is a structural shift on the lumbar spine or pelvis, which irritates the sciatic nerve, and causes structural imbalances down the lower limb which consolidate a compensatory dysfunction.
Get Rid of Sciatica
In our opinion, the best way to get rid of sciatica is take a long term approach.
While some stretches and exercises may afford short term relief (we will show you these in a moment), it may be wiser to take a preventative long term focus.
By correcting underlying dysfunction, not only can you get rid of that annoying discomfort and pain, but proactively keep it at bay – and function to your fullest potential like you were designed to!
If you are over the ‘band-aid’ solutions to your sciatica, we recommend scheduling an initial consult with one of our experienced chiropractors to help identify the underlying cause of your pain.
Below are our 3 must do exercises to help provide relief from sciatica pain:
Piriformis stretch
Sciatic nerve floss
Piriformis myofacial self release
At Frankston Chiropractic – Sims & Finn, our focus is on improving the structure of the spine, to improve the function of the body.
Our professional team of male chiropractors and female chiropractors are always happy to answer questions and help you achieve your health goals.
To make an appointment, please call our friendly receptionists on 5902 7081