Sciatica is a severe pain in the leg caused by compression, irritation, or inflammation of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerves are the largest and longest nerves in the body, reaching about the size of your thumb in diameter, and running down the back of each leg.
Each sciatic nerve is composed of five smaller nerves that leave the spinal cord from the lower spinal column, join together and then travel down each leg. It then divides into tiny, smaller nerves that travel to the thigh, knee, calf, ankle, foot and toes. When these nerves are irritated or affected by the inflammation of nearby soft tissues, doctors refer to this as “sciatica.” Sciatica doesn’t have symptoms. It is a symptom itself, consisting of pain, burning, tingling or electric shock-like feelings in the path of the sciatic nerve. It usually results from injury to the fibers that make up the sciatic nerve.
If you feel pain, weakness and/or changes in sensation (tingling, jolts, hot and cold, numbness) along the anatomical path the sciatic nerve travels, or numbness or weakness in the skin and/or muscles that the nerve’s fibers serve, then you are suffering from sciatica.
Down the back of the leg… back of the knee
From the mid-buttock down the back of the leg to the knee and/or the outside of the calf and top of the foot, ending in the space between the last two toes
Inside the calf, behind the inner ankle to the sole of the foot
Lower back pain may also be present
Sciatica arises from injury to the fibers of the sciatic nerve. The injury can occur in one of four places:
Inside the spinal canal (cauda equina)
Where bundles of sciatic nerve fibers pass through bony openings in the spine (neuroforamina)
In the pelvis (lumbrosacral plexus)
Where the sciatic nerve exits the pelvis, below the piriformis muscle in the buttock (Piriformis Syndrome), or along the leg
Herniated or slipped disc (herniated nucleus pulposus). This is by far the most common cause of sciatica
Pressure by the piriformis muscle in the buttock on the sciatic nerve. (Piriformis Syndrome)
Misalignment of the bones in the lower back and buttocks (Sacroiliac Joint Derangement)
Narrowing of the spinal canal that puts pressure on or pinches the fibers that make up the sciatic nerve
Slippage of one vertebra so that it is out of line with those above or beneath it (spondylolisthesis)
Abnormality of the nervous system itself, so that nerve fibers don’t transmit signals properly, especially to feet and calves (neuropathy)
The chiropractic approach to sciatica (and other health problems) is to help restore the way your spine works, reducing nerve irritation and revitalizing your own healing ability.
Sciatica often worsens with extended bed rest. Pain pills or muscle relaxers are unable to correct the nerve compression caused by a bulging disc. Physical therapy merely exercises the unstable joints. Surgery often involves cutting away disc tissue or removing bone to make room for the nerve. Fortunately, sciatica often responds to safe, natural chiropractic care. Improving joint motion with a series of chiropractic adjustments has produced results for millions. Your chiropractic doctor is uniquely skilled to evaluate and reduce the most common cause of sciatica nerve pain. It’s the natural approach to relief and better health.
Actually, chiropractic doesn’t cure anything! Only your body can do that. The chiropractic approach to sciatica (and other health problems) is to help restore the way your spine works, reducing nerve irritation and revitalizing your own healing ability.
Most sciatica patients are delighted with the results they get after weeks or months of care. Naturally, this varies from patient to patient. After a relapse or two, many discover that years of neglect have produced spinal instabilities that never fully heal. These patients elect to continue with periodic chiropractic checkups.
Chiropractic is a healing system that focuses on the structure of the body. Research has proved that chiropractic treatment can be beneficial for many muscle and joint problems. Chiropractic is a branch of the healing arts based on the scientific fact that our nervous system controls or influences the function of every cell in our body. Interference to the nervous system (caused by the vertebral subluxation complex) will effect how the nervous system relates to the cell to which it travels.
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