What is Sciatica
The term Sciatica is not a diagnosis but rather a medical word used to describe that there is pain in the back of the leg travelling towards the toes. There are over 20 reasons why a person can develop sciatica and the skill of the Chiropractor is to find which of these reasons are contributing to the “sciatica” presentation.
Sometimes there are more than one reason which can complicate things however it is when this is not considered that the patient will suffer longer unnecessarily. The most famous cause of sciatica is a “slipped disc” also known as a prolapsed or bulging disc but it may surprise you to know that it is NOT the most common cause and it’s a good thing because a lot of sciatica cases can be helped with a Chiropractic approach.
Sciatica symptoms
Suffering numbness or weakness in the legs and feet, experiencing a pins and needles type feeling or shooting burning pain can be torturous symptoms and leave people not only physically exhausted but also emotionally wrecked especially if there is no family support. In cases where this condition has been present for many months or years the strain to family and working life takes it’s toll as people eventually lose patience.
Sciatica affects all parts of life everything from walking to getting out of a chair. Simple movement we take for granted becomes a mammoth painful task and life comes to a sudden halt as you simply can’t move comfortably without suffering.
High success rate with treatment
Sciatica is something we treat regularly with a high success rate. We have been looking after these types of problems for over 23 years so there is little we haven’t seen or worked on. Not every single case will respond to conservative Chiropractic care as sometimes the damage is so great, surgery may be the only option. Before you travel down this road come in and see us for an opinion .
Gentle techniques
Using gentle techniques, pressure that has built on the sciatic nerve can be released. If pressure continues to traumatised the nerve, damage can be irreversible long term. Any condition that interferes with the nerves ability to transmit messages from the brain to the muscles, skin, joints or organs can impact on health.
The most common one we see with sciatica is stomach bloating and constipation.
“Manipulation [chiropractic adjustments], with or without exercise, improved symptoms compared to other treatment after 3 & 12 months of treatment” -British Medical Journal
“Patients showed 86% resolution of nerve pain after 9 chiropractic treatments” -Journal of Chiropractic medicine 2008
The Health Care Policy and Research guidelines of the United States do state that the safest way to relieve the discomfort of sciatica is through chiropractic care.
Make an appointment at Chiropractor Melbourne or call us on (03) 9388 8237.
