If you or someone you know is suffering with the low back dis-ease "sciatica?" then you know how distressing and even draining that issue can be. Aside from the uneasiness and pain that is felt in the low back, which is bad enough by itself, you are also experiencing some form of symptoms in either or both of your lower extremities (any region between the gluteus muscles down to the toes). These symptoms range from pins and needles, insensibility to varied sensations of pain all experienced in the butt cheeks, back of the thighs, calf area, ankle, sole of the foot or the toes.
You're likely wondering what is causing the agony and what to do about it. The precise cause may be different from case to case but in a nutshell sciatica comes from some type of nerve damage. It may be a direct compression of the nerve (trapped nerve) but quite often it is not compressed, instead it is stretched, twisted or sheared by a defect of the spine.
The majority will seek out help from their GP and are often given analgesic treatments and if this doesn't work wait for a physiotherapy referral. But when you suffer with sciatica your best call is likely to head straight out for your local chiropractor as an alternative. Unlike a GP who must "generalise" in a selection of disease processes a doctor of chiropractic specializes in sicknesses of the spine and is naturaly much more likely to aid in finding the quickest way to deal with your sciatica.
There is a growing body of evidence that chiropractors are highly effective at resolving both acute and chronic sciatica with some studies pointing to 80-90% success rates. As well as this there are no side effects with chiropractic therapy like there are with drug therapy, steroid injections or surgical interventions. As an example recent information has shown that epidural injections regularly given to address the pain of sciatica may raise the probability of spinal fracture through your life.
If you are suffering with sciatica then seek out help as soon as you can, because the earlier you deal with the problem the easier it will be to cure.
You're likely wondering what is causing the agony and what to do about it. The precise cause may be different from case to case but in a nutshell sciatica comes from some type of nerve damage. It may be a direct compression of the nerve (trapped nerve) but quite often it is not compressed, instead it is stretched, twisted or sheared by a defect of the spine.
The majority will seek out help from their GP and are often given analgesic treatments and if this doesn't work wait for a physiotherapy referral. But when you suffer with sciatica your best call is likely to head straight out for your local chiropractor as an alternative. Unlike a GP who must "generalise" in a selection of disease processes a doctor of chiropractic specializes in sicknesses of the spine and is naturaly much more likely to aid in finding the quickest way to deal with your sciatica.
There is a growing body of evidence that chiropractors are highly effective at resolving both acute and chronic sciatica with some studies pointing to 80-90% success rates. As well as this there are no side effects with chiropractic therapy like there are with drug therapy, steroid injections or surgical interventions. As an example recent information has shown that epidural injections regularly given to address the pain of sciatica may raise the probability of spinal fracture through your life.
If you are suffering with sciatica then seek out help as soon as you can, because the earlier you deal with the problem the easier it will be to cure.
About the Author:
Peter Olsson qualified as a doctor of chiropractic in 2005 and has gone on to focus on the resolution of sciatica. He helps with hundreds of folk suffering with sciatica each week. You'll be able to find many great articles about sciatica on his site.
