Sciatica: What is it and how to get rid of it!

You have probably heard somebody complaining about their sciatica or their sciatic nerve problem. We are going to clear up what exactly sciatica is and what things can be done for it. 

You have nerve roots coming out of the lumbar spine and the sacrum that converge together that form your sciatic nerve. It forms in the lumbar spine and travels all the way down the back of your leg, and it has branches that branch out along the way. Symptoms of sciatica can be anywhere from where the sciatic nerve starts in the lumbar spine all the way through the thigh and the leg, even wrapping around into the front and the side and down the leg. All these branches can give you symptoms in different areas. Those symptoms can be sharp, shooting pain. They can also be tingling, numbness, cold or hot. If you are experiencing any kind of weird feelings going on through the leg, we usually know that it is coming from the sciatic nerve.

What can be done for sciatica? That all depends on where the nerve pressure is coming from. If the nerve pressure is coming from the lower lumbar spine, it is likely coming from a disc that is putting pressure on the nerve. We can use techniques like our flexion distraction table or decompression table to help open those disc spaces and take pressure off the nerve at the origin of the nerve compression.

Another spot where we see a lot of sciatica issues is in the SI joint. If your SI joint starts to put pressure or irritation down on the sciatic nerve, then we can do adjustments on your SI joints to relieve pressure there. Sometimes nerve pressure comes from the muscle groups that connect from the sacrum and the pelvis to the hip. When those muscles are putting pressure on the sciatic nerve then we can do muscle techniques to relieve that pressure as well.

I hope we have cleared up any confusion about the sciatic nerve, about sciatica and what kind of treatments can be done for it. If you or someone you know has sciatic nerve symptoms, please give us a call at (513) 444-4529 or visit our website at www.kauffmanchiropractic.com to set up a new patient visit.