Is your back pain caused by sciatica?

Is your back pain caused by sciatica?

Sciatica

Chronic back pain can interfere with your quality of life. You can’t get much done if you are in constant pain, fatigued, lethargic, have poor sleep, and can hardly make it through the day. Chiropractic aims to improve your quality of life by addressing and treating this pain. One of the most challenging conditions treated includes Sciatica.

What is sciatica?

Sciatica is a medical condition characterized by pain going down the leg from the lower back. This pain may go down the back, outside, or front of the leg. It is caused by compression of the sciatic nerve root in the lower back. The sciatic nerve is the largest and longest spinal nerve in the human body. It runs from the lower back down the back of each leg.

People often describe pain associated with sciatica to be shooting with a sudden onset. This pain is usually experience following activities such as heavy lifting though in some instances it can be a gradual onset. The pain can be minor and infrequent or it can be constant and debilitating.

Symptoms of Sciatica

You may have sciatica if:

  • You experience back pain
  • Disc herniation may be present
  • Spinal stenosis may be present
  • Pain is worse in the morning hours
  • Pain is worse with sitting
  • Pain is worse with driving
  • Pain may be worse with coughing and sneezing
  • Pain and numbness begin in lower back, radiates to hip, and travels down leg to foot in predictable patterns
  • Symptoms are usually on one side
  • Symptoms can range from mild to severe
  • The cause is usually in the lower back
  • The cause is nerve irritation/compression

Causes

There are several known causes of sciatica and these include pregnancy, scar tissue and muscle strain.

Pregnancy is associated with plenty of changes in the body including weight gain, a shift in your centre of gravity and hormonal changes, all of which may trigger sciatica.

Scar tissue may compress the lumbar nerve root, which may cause sciatica, this is known as epidural fibrosis.

Similarly, muscle strain may be the culprit as the inflammation caused by muscle strain could put pressure on a nerve root and cause sciatic pain.

Another cause of sciatic pain could come in the form of a herniated disc. This is the most common cause of true sciatica. This occurs when a spinal disc weakens and pushes out the jelly-like contents. This begins to press against the root of the sciatic nerve causing pain.

Chiropractic for Sciatica

Doctors of chiropractic regularly treat patients with sciatica. Before your chiropractor can begin treatment, he/she will first need to determine the cause of sciatica as this will influence the route taken to treat it. Common treatment solutions for pain associated with sciatica include ultrasound, TENS, spinal manipulation and ice/cold therapies. At Modern Chiropractic and Pain Relief, we administer cold therapy by means of CRYOFOS. This has shown to be a fantastic method for relieving pain associated with sciatica. You can read more about CRYOFOS here: https://modernchiropractic.com/cryofos-therapy/

 

At Modern Chiropractic and Pain Relief, we have plenty of experience in treating back pain as well as pain associated with sciatica. If you suspect that you may have this condition, contact us today to get a definitive answer as well as a treatment plan.

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