How Chiropractic Care Can Alleviate Sciatic Pain Quickly
By Dr. Tim Fargo, Chiropractor
Let me begin by giving you a better sense of the anatomy. The sciatic nerve is a very large nerve that emanates from the lowest two segments in your low back and the upper two segments in your pelvis. These four nerve roots coalesce and then travel down the middle of your butt, just underneath the piriformis muscle, and extend down the back of the leg all the way to the foot.
You can see in the diagram above how the sciatic nerve is running underneath the gluteal muscles (butt muscles) and then down the back of the leg where it branches even further. Anything that causes pressure on the sciatic nerve or irritation of it can cause sciatic pain, also commonly known as “sciatica”.
The next question that we must answer is, “What are the things that can cause irritation of the sciatic nerve”? If we go to the origin of the roots of the sciatic nerve, then we can see part of the answer. These nerve roots drape across the back of the spinal discs. If the disc is herniated then the nerve root can be compressed. In addition, if discs are degenerated and there is arthritis in the spine, then the channels that the nerve roots traverse can become narrowed. Both of these things can cause compression, irritation, inflammation and stretching of the sciatic nerve fibers.
Pictured above is an illustration of a disk herniation putting pressure on a nerve root.
Chiropractic care improves the functioning of the spinal joints and can, particularly with adjunctive therapies like spinal decompression, reduce disc herniations and nerve compression. We have had thousands of patients over the years with acute sciatic pain who experienced rapid relief of sciatic pain.
Sciatica is sometimes not caused by direct nerve root compression, but by stretching of the nerve because of misalignments in the spine. Chiropractic care rapidly reduces these misalignments and then relieves tension on the sciatic nerve. In addition, referencing the first illustration above, the piriformis muscle directly overlies the sciatic nerve. Anything that impacts the balance of the piriformis muscles has the potential to cause sciatic pain. We have found frequently that misalignments of the pelvis and hip will cause imbalance of the piriformis muscle and result in sciatic pain
Taking all the different mechanisms delineated above, the conclusion is that chiropractic care can often result in rapid, and sometimes immediate, relief for sciatic pain. The doctors at Chiropractic Health and Wellness in Edina are trained to analyze and treat the various causes of sciatica. If you, or someone you know, suffers with sciatic pain, then call us for an evaluation.
Don’t let sciatica slow you down. Schedule your evaluation today and start finding relief!
