Sciatica
Rehabilitation and Treatment for Sciatica
The longest and widest nerve in the body is the sciatic nerve. It runs from the back of the hips, or lower back, down to the back of the legs. Irritation of the sciatic nerve is called “sciatica”. Sciatica is a common cause for back pain in adults between the ages of 30 and 50, although individuals of all ages may be affected by this pain condition. For many patients, sciatica is the result of natural wear and tear over time on the structures of the lower spine, not as a result of injury. It is a chronic condition that occurs due to misaligned spine, pressure on the vertebrae, pregnancy, or even sitting on one’s back pocket wallet. However, the most common cause of sciatica pain is due to a herniated disc.
Those who suffer from sciatica identify their pain as one that travels along the sciatic nerve starting from the lower back (lumbar spine) through the buttock and legs. Some patients have reported this pain to feel like an electric shock, and others describe it as a sharp, persistent burning sensation. Sciatica is a set of symptoms for what is irritating the nerve root and causing the pain. Finding the root cause of your sciatica pain is the best way to achieve long-term relief.
Carlsbad chiropractor Dr. Larry Dahl will assess your treatment by obtaining a complete history in which you describe your pain, when it began, and what activities lessen or intensify your sciatica pain. Chiropractic offers a non-invasive care that focuses on relieving the compression of your sciatica nerve by bringing proper alignment back to the lumbar spine. Dr. Dahl’s chiropractic therapy will depend on his assessment on the cause of your sciatica.
Sciatica is a condition that can cause pain in your lower back and legs. Dr. Dahl can treat sciatica by Adjusting the spine to take the pressure off of the Sciatic nerve.
Modern Medicine’s Approach to Sciatica
The traditional treatment for sciatica is, unfortunately, for a patient to have lumbar spine surgery for a “sciatica” complaint diagnosed from an “abnormality” on an MRI scan. The sciatica complaint was a simple ligament problem in the sacroiliac joint. For the majority of people who experience pain radiating down the leg, even in cases where numbness is present, the cause of the problem is not a pinched nerve but sacroiliac ligament weakness. The problem with this surgical approach is that it does nothing to repair the weakened ligament in the sacroiliac joint and, thus, does not alleviate the chronic pain that people with sciatica experience.
Another standard practice of modern medicine is to prescribe anti-inflammatory medications, or NSAIDs. However, in the long run, this treatment does more damage than good. Anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to produce short-term pain benefit, but both result in long-term loss of function and even more chronic pain by actually inhibiting the healing process of soft tissues and accelerating cartilage degeneration
The Natural Approach to Sciatica
A better approach is to stimulate ligament repair with Chiropractic adjustments. Chiropractic eliminates pain in the local ligaments by directly stimulating the nervous system and unlocking restricted joints in the sacroiliac region. In fact, the referral pain patterns of the sciatic nerve and of the sacroiliac ligaments are similar. Both pain and numbness typically associated with sciatica can be successfully treated with Chiropractic. Chronic pain is most commonly due to cartilage deterioration, tendon weakness, or ligament weakness. The safest and most effective natural treatment for repairing tendon, ligament and cartilage damage is Chiropractic. In simple terms, Chiropractic stimulates the body to repair painful areas.
Chiropractic Treatments
Auto Injury
Back Pain
Fibromyalgia
Headache & Migraine
Hip & Joint Pain
Knee & Leg Pain
Neck Pain
Sciatica
Sports Injury
Work Injury
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