Do chiropractic adjustments help sciatica? Research has shown that chiropractic adjustments can provide relief for those with sciatica, easing symptoms of pain in the lower back and legs. Sciatica is a health issue that causes pain, numbness, weakness, or tingling that begins in your lower back and travels down your large sciatic nerve in the back of one or both legs. People with sciatica often describe a sensation of pins and needles causing discomfort and varying pain levels.
What Is Sciatica?
Sciatica, or lumbar radiculopathy, causes pain that starts along your sciatic nerve. This nerve goes from the back of your pelvis down the back of your thigh. It’s the main nerve in your leg and the biggest one in your whole body.
Sciatica happens when the spinal column presses on the roots of the sciatic nerve in your lower back. This nerve is the body’s largest and goes from the lower part of your spinal cord, through the buttock, and down to the lower leg.
Sciatic nerve pain often happens due to a herniated disk in the spine. Other reasons include bone spurs on the lower back bones, tumors, or nerves affected by another health issue.
Symptoms of Sciatica
Sciatic pain varies from slight discomfort to intense pain. Due to it, people struggle with everyday activities like walking, bending, or sitting.
If you experience these top five sciatica symptoms, chiropractic care might help.
1. Numbness In the Lower Body Parts
People often feel numb in their legs, feet, or toes. This numbness usually happens when you wake up or sit in one position for a long time.
2. Frequent Lower Back Pain
Many people with sciatica often talk about having pain in their lower back. If you have pain in your lower back, it’s important to know if it’s general pain or sciatica. Sciatica happens when a nerve gets irritated due to severe inflammation, torn muscles, or a slipped disc. Regularly seeing a chiropractor can help diagnose sciatica and provide the right treatment.
3. Sharp and Severe Pain In The Nerves
When someone’s leg has a pinched nerve, they experience sharp and often occurring pain in their leg.
4. Intense Burning Sensation
Patients could experience a strong burning feeling where a nerve is pinched, often felt in the lower back or upper buttocks.
5. Patients Feel Pain While Standing Or Sitting
When someone has sciatica, they experience intense pain or soreness when they stand up or sit down. This pain occurs because there’s a lot of pressure on the leg muscles when the body moves.
Who Is Affected By Sciatica?
Sciatica can trouble anyone, but specific jobs, things you do, and health issues can up your chances of getting this painful nerve problem. Some common sciatica risk factors are:
- Advanced age because the spine changes with age, and issues such as herniated disks and bone spurs often present later in life.
- Diabetes, which can result in nerve damage as a result of the body’s inability to properly use and regulate blood sugar
- Obesity because the added weight you carry increases stress and strain on the spine
- Occupations that require twisting the body, extensive driving, and heavy lifting
- Sedentary lifestyle, including prolonged sitting
Diagnosing Sciatica
Your healthcare professional will do a check-up to test how strong you are and how your reflexes work. If your physician thinks that nerve pain could be causing your discomfort, you might need more medical imaging tests for diagnosis, like:
- CT scan
- MRI
- Spine X-ray
- Electromyography (EMG)
Do Chiropractic Adjustments Help Sciatica: How Is Sciatica Treated?
A sciatica flare-up might make the person feel pained, but the pain often disappears quickly. Taking non-prescription pain medicine can ease daily discomfort, and doing physical therapy (by regularly strengthening exercises) can benefit the long run. A physician might also give muscle-relaxing medicine for extra relief.
Chiropractic adjustments offer a helpful solution for sciatica. The main aim of chiropractic is to boost spine and nervous system health, promoting overall healing. Chiropractic is non-surgical and lets patients ease pain without drugs, which appeals to some. Chiropractic can relieve sciatica pain alone or with other therapies.
Why Chiropractors Are Effective for Sciatica Treatment
When managing sciatic or other pain, people often turn to pain medicine. However, non-surgical methods like chiropractic adjustments have effectively treated pain.
Chiropractors use a special method called spinal manipulations (subluxations) to differentiate their care from other physical therapies. They learn techniques to gently move the vertebrae and joints back where they should be, using quick and soft thrusts.
These adjustments and movements aim to fix the spine’s alignment, reducing pressure on the sciatic nerve for pain relief and allowing the body to recover. When the joint or vertebra returns to its proper place, inflammation decreases, and the healing starts.
Chiropractors say that sciatica pain happens when the sciatic nerves are squeezed or pressed. They think fixing this squeeze with chiropractic treatment will let the nearby muscles heal, strengthen, and stabilize themselves. A spinal adjustment aims to release spine tightness, easing irritation and swelling.
They aid in returning misaligned vertebrae to their proper position, reducing pain, spasms, and numbness. These adjustments are typically gentle and have been proven as a secure and effective way to re-stabilize the spine. Essentially, chiropractors aim to assist your body in self-healing through natural, drug-free approaches that involve spine manipulations and adjustments.
Chiropractic therapy considers all aspects. The chiropractor will inquire about the patient’s health and medical history during the appointment. They will also ask about the patient’s diet, exercise routines, and other medical issues. Chiropractic adjustments are beneficial for persistent neck and back pain, especially sciatica. They can also ease joint discomfort and aid in recovering from past injuries. Chiropractic treatment for sciatica pain addresses these problems and related neuromusculoskeletal disorders.
Is Sciatica Pain Treatment Painful?
Chiropractic care for sciatica pain is famous for the “crack” noises that often happen during treatment. Many times, patients anticipate these sounds during their initial chiropractic session. But patients must understand that these noises don’t come from the joints clicking together. Do you know how it feels to pop a knuckle or adjust your neck to relieve stiffness? The sounds you hear in chiropractic sessions are quite similar. Afterward, most patients feel relief in the problem area.
When we feel great, we usually don’t consider seeing a doctor. People tend to seek medical help only when they’re already hurting. However, waiting to get treated can make the recovery process longer. If you’re dealing with sciatica pain, chiropractic care might be beneficial.
You can easily book an appointment with a reliable chiropractor like us to address sciatica pain. Just give us a call to set up a consultation and adjustment today. We can also help with persistent aches and discomfort over time. Seeking chiropractic sciatica pain treatment could provide the relief you’re looking for.