The Symptoms and Treatment Options for Sciatica

By Admin
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29 Jan, 2018
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Suffering from pain in your lower back that extends into your buttocks and down your legs could signify a condition known as sciatica. If you have these types of pain and feel tingling and numbness in these areas, you should visit a chiropractor. Chiropractors treat this condition and can help you understand what it is, what caused it, and how to find relief from it.

What Is Sciatica?

Sciatica is a condition that results from compression on the sciatic nerve. This nerve is located in your lower back and extends down your legs. When compression occurs on this nerve, it results in extreme pain, tingling, and numbness that can extend from a person's lower back to his or her feet.

Compression on this nerve occurs in different areas of the back and results in different types and levels of pain. In many cases, the compression on the nerve occurs on the L4 nerve root. Compression on the L3 nerve root, L5 nerve root, and S1 nerve root also lead to this condition and all types of pain and uncomfortable feelings.

Any type of compression on these nerve roots cause sciatica, but people with herniated discs in their back tend to struggle more with this condition than people without herniated discs. Being overweight can also cause enough compression to lead to sciatica, and people can also develop this condition from arthritis and a variety of other health conditions.

If you have pain in your buttocks and legs that feels like nerve pain, you probably have sciatica. Some people, however, only feel pain in their lower backs with this condition. The best thing you can do is visit a chiropractor if you struggle with any type of pain in your back, neck, buttocks, or legs.

How Can You Find Relief?

Living with sciatica makes life hard, but there are many different ways to find relief from this common condition, and most of the best ways are natural methods. The first thing you should do is get an adjustment from a chiropractor.

A chiropractic adjustment is something chiropractors do to help people find relief from all types of back and neck pain. During an adjustment, a chiropractor applies pressure in a very sudden manner to the joints located in your spinal column.

Some people enjoy this procedure a lot, while others feel frightened by it. You might experience slight pain when the chiropractor does this, but you will soon find relief from the pain you were feeling.

The purpose of an adjustment is to realign the parts of the spinal column, but this is not the only thing that occurs from an adjustment. In addition to this, an adjustment causes the vertebrae in your spine to move just enough to allow the nerves to flow freely. In other words, the adjustment relieves compression on the nerves.

After an adjustment, you should feel relief from your pain; however, your chiropractor might suggest using several other treatment options to help you keep the pain away, including the following treatment methods:

Exercising – Learning how to stretch properly may help prevent compression on your sciatic nerve, and this could help you prevent feeling pain from sciatica in the future.
Applying heat – Using a heating pad also provides relief from the pain and can help reduce the compression on this nerve.
Using a TENS unit – Chiropractors often recommend the use of a TENS unit for pain relief, and this unit provides electrical current stimulation to your body.

You can talk to a chiropractor to find out other methods to try for pain relief, too.

If you have sciatica and want relief, contact Corner Chiropractic Center today. We can diagnose your condition and find the best ways to help you find relief for the pain you feel.