Chiropractic Treatment for Sciatica

Sciatica?  Sciatica is the term given to pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve pathway. The sciatic nerve starts in the lumbar spine, goes to the top of the buttocks, down through the pelvis, and then posterior down each of the legs to the feet.  People usually only have sciatic pain down one leg at a time.  The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve of the body, about the size of your thumb, and it functions to connect the spinal cord to the leg and foot.  The staff at Twisted Spine & Joint has helped many people with this condition and can help you.

Typically, people who have sciatic pain suffer from misalignment of the pelvis, herniated disk, have osteophytes or bone spurs causing inflammation and pain, muscle dysfunction, tumors, infection, or injury to the lumbar spine.  This causes lumbar pain (lumbago), hip pain, leg pain, foot pain, and buttock pain.  Symptoms of sciatica include:  burning along the back of the leg, numbness of the leg &/or foot, cramping of the leg &/or foot, or tingling/paresthesia of the leg &/or foot.  Pain can increase with walking, sitting, driving, sit to stand motion, laying on affected side, bending, and standing too long in one place.

Misalignment or "subluxation" of the pelvis and lumbar spine can be present for years.  Three things cause pain:  1) change in position of a joint;  2) degeneration over time;  and 3) inflammation or muscle spasms.  Sciatica can occur suddenly due to injury, but it can also be due to an old or existing problem.  When different joints or levels of the spine are not moving smoothly, the nerves can become irritated due to inflammation and muscle spasms.  Previous injuries accumulate over our lives and conservative care should be the first choice when treating sciatic pain.   

Sciatica can be diagnosed with a proper medical history and physical examination.  Orthopedic tests are performed by a trained health professional to diagnose sciatica.  X-rays can be used to identify the cause, and sometimes advanced studies, such as lumbar MRI or CT scans are necessary. 

Conservative care is the first choice when treating sciatic pain.  Chiropractors treat sciatica with a series of prescribed adjustments, physical therapy to reduce muscle spasms, core exercises to balance the pelvis and back, stretching exercises to improve muscle balance and to improve spinal health.  If necessary, referrals are made for pain medication, anti-inflammatory medications, and even surgical procedures as a last resort. 



 

What Is Better For My Muscles, Ice Or Heat?

Well it really depends, both can be harmful and both can be helpful, it really depends on what stage of healing you are in. There are three types of phases during the healing process and your chiropractor will be able to identify and recommend which one is best for you. The phases of healing are the acute, sub-acute, and chronic. The acute phase is usually the first seventy-two hours of the injury, the sub-acute phase is from after the first seventy-two hour to two weeks, and the chronic phase is anything after two weeks.

Due to the physiological process of each phase cryotherapy or heat therapy can be indicated or contraindicated. The first phase is going to be the acute and ice phase, ice will be recommended to help decrease inflammation and help gate with the pain. The process of reducing the inflammation with help the tissues heal faster and regain functionality sooner. If heat is used in the acute phase, while it may feel good at the time, the next day will be extremely painful. Large gatherings of exudate or liquid will be present causing the area of injury to swell, also this swelling will promote pain, and the area of injury will be unusable for a few dates.

The next phase is the sub-acute phase which as stated above ranges from after the first seventy-two hours to two weeks. These phases can overlap and it's your chiropractors job to assess the current situation. In the sub-acute phase I still like to recommend ice treatment most of the time. The ice treatments continue to decrease pain, and only slightly decrease inflammation. If a patient has problems with ice I will recommend an ice-heat contrast therapy, with heat for ten minutes then ice to follow up. The ice-heat contrast therapy can act as a pumping acting to first bring the exudate to the area and the cold to contract and pump it away.

The last phase is the chronic phase, which is after two weeks from the injury date. During the chronic phase heat is going to be beneficial. The heat usually helps the tight muscles to relax and breath so to speak, most people also report just the general feeling that heat feels good. The heat seems to elongate the muscle fiber to make them more pliable meaning the muscle will be able to help preform a larger range of motion. Heat is also used in muscle work or reforming tissues, where the heat is used to relax and elongate the muscles and after the therapy ice is used to make sure the treatment does not have painful effects. If you have an injury it is always important to get it evaluated by your chiropractor first since they are experts in musculoskeletal injuries.