Research shows that Chiropractic adjustments are highly effective in treating Sciatic pain. The Sciatic nerve is a large nerve in the human body. It begins in the lower back and runs through the buttock and down the leg. It is the longest and thickest nerve in the body, going from the beginning of the leg to the bottom of the foot. The sciatic nerve provides the connection or communication to the brain and nervous system for nearly the whole of the skin of the leg, the muscles of the back of the thigh, and those of the leg and foot. It is derived from spinal nerves L4 to S3. When the spine is misaligned in the lumbar spine or sacrum region, the sciatic nerve can become pinched or have abnormal pressure on the nerve.

 

Two symptoms usually occur: numbness of part or the whole leg, and shooting pain down part or the whole leg. Usually this pain is constant when sitting and standing and can become debilitating to the sufferer. This often also affects sleep as well. The sufferer is unable to find any position that is comfortable. Over-the-counter pain medications are not always very effective because they are not always strong enough for severe pain. Stronger medications may help reduce the pain but will not correct the main cause if it is structural.  Our doctors are trained to find the bone(s) of the spine involved in pinching the sciatic nerve and trained in aligning the spine to remove the nerve pressure. Once the nerve is no longer pinched symptoms quickly reduce. Depending on how long this condition has gone untreated, this can effect how fast the entire condition resolves. Your nerves are very sensitive and it only takes about the weight of a fly or a dime to damage them. They are able to heal and repair but that can take many months to regenerate the nerve cells that were damaged. So we recommend if you are suffering from pain like we described above, you should call our office immediately to be evaluated for structural causes. The longer you wait, the longer it takes to heal the nerve.