Sciatica

Sciatica refers to pain, numbness or tingling that travels along the path of the sciatic nerve, typically caused by compression or irritation of the nerve root in the lumbar spine. It is the longest nerve in the body. Sciatica essentially means inflammation of the sciatic nerve.

What are the common causes of sciatica?

There are many possible causes of sciatica, although the cause of your sciatica may not become clear to you immediately. The cause of sciatica will vary greatly depending on your age and history. Some common cause of sciatica include:

Disc herniation in the lumbar spine (lower back)
Bone spurs or spinal stenosis (degeneration) in the lumbar spine
Spondylolisthesis
Pregnancy
Excess weight
Poor posture
Occupation – lots of prolonged sitting or heavy lifting

At Total Health Chiropractic, our chiropractors conduct a thorough assessment to help identify the contributing factors to your symptoms. We regularly see people presenting with sciatica across our practices, including both acute and chronic presentations.

Sciatica Symptoms

Sciatica may present as:

Shooting pain down the leg
Nerve pain like burning or tingling in your lower back, hip, leg, or foot
Numbness in any of these areas
Weakness in certain muscles from the lower back down to the foot

It’s important to note that sciatica can range from a mild ache to severe or sharp pain. It may be intermittent or constant in nature. Sciatica may affect just one side of the body or both. It can affect anyone at any time.

Sciatica — how may chiropractic care help?

There are many management options for sciatica across both medical and allied health pathways. Every case of sciatica is different, as each person has a unique clinical history in terms of previous occupation, history of trauma or injury, and levels of activity and exercise. After a thorough assessment with one of our chiropractors, a care plan will be tailored to your individual presentation and goals, with the aim of helping reduce the severity of your symptoms and improve function.

For the majority of cases, a conservative approach is often appropriate. However, if severe pain persists for more than three months, or if you experience weakness, numbness, or loss of bladder or bowel function, it is important to seek assessment promptly.

A tailored care plan from a chiropractor may include:

Spinal and pelvic chiropractic adjustments — where restricted movement or dysfunction in the spinal joints may be contributing to pressure on the disc or sciatic nerve, chiropractic adjustments may help reduce the severity of sciatica symptoms
Heat/cold therapy
Rehabilitation exercises
Soft tissue therapy
Stretches

Contact Us

If you have any questions, or wish to book an appointment with one of our experienced Chiropractors, head to our contact us page and select your preferred practice.