Sciatica
Sciatica is not a diagnosis but a description of a symptom. It simply means pain in the sciatic nerve. The Sciatic nerve is a big thick nerve that travels from your low back to your feet and supplies the majority of your muscles and skin. Sciatica normally results from a compression or irritation where the sciatic nerve originates in the lower back (L4-S3 to be specific). This causes pain travelling down the legs. There are two most common causes of sciatica: disc herniation and lumbar stenosis.
Disc Herniation
A disc herniation is when the disc (a gel like structure in-between your vertebrae of your lower back) becomes damaged causing it to bulge and push on the near by sciatic nerve. This is more common in people between the ages of 20 and 60 due to the fact that you have more fluid in your disc when you are younger. As you age, your disc become more rigid and less likely to herniate. Disc herniations tends to feel worse when sitting, bending forwards and first thing in the morning and better with walking.
In this video I explain and show you in detail the most common causes of sciatica, how you can test whether you may have this issue and what you can do at home to give yourself some immediate relief. If the issue doesn’t resolve, please do get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.
Lumbar Stenosis
Lumbar stenosis is due to degeneration/ arthritis of the lumbar spine that causes a narrowing of the space where the nerve exits the spine. Degeneration takes a long time to develop which is why lumbar stenosis is almost never seen in younger adults but normally in those over 50-60 years of ago. The pain normally goes down either one leg (called lateral stenosis) or both legs (called spinal stenosis). The pain typically feels worse with walking and often better with sitting. Often patients report only being able to walk a certain distance before needing to sit down which will normally make the pain dramatically better.
How Can A Chiropractor Help With Sciatica?
So what can a Chiropractor do? There is always a reason why the disc herniated and this is what a Chiropractor’s job is, to find out this reason and then fix it. It is my opinion that as a Chiropractor, we are one of the most equipped to deal with these types of issues causing sciatica due to our ability to be able to get to the cause of the problem.
If you are suffering with sciatica, then please do get in touch; you don’t need to be suffering any longer.
Sciatica - HELPED
“Thank you Dr Steven for helping me with my sciatica. I am completely healed. Also appreciate immense help in all the exercise recommendations and support. Very flexible with appointments. I highly recommend.”
Ramesh Baba Jaya Chandran