Recently I have heard a lot of people talking about their “sciatica.” Occasionally it is pain that likely has little to do with sciatica. Today I wanted to talk a little about what sciatica is and how chiropractic can help.
So first off, what is sciatica? In the Medline Plus Dictionary online we find this under the entry for sciatica: “pain along the course of a sciatic nerve especially in the back of the thigh caused by compression, inflammation, or reflex mechanisms.” So sciatica really is not a disease in itself but is a description of a pain pattern. That pain pattern is pain along the course of the sciatic nerve.
The sciatic nerve is the largest and longest nerve in the human body. It is made up of nerve fibers coming from the spinal cord that exit the spinal canal in the low back and pelvis, more specifically L4-S3. These nerve fibers come together to form the sciatic nerve which passes between or sometimes through muscles is the buttocks, most notably the piriformis muscle. The sciatic nerve then passes down the back of the thigh and then separates into two main branches a little above the knee. These branches go on into the lower leg. The sciatic nerve or its branches supply muscles in the back of the thigh and lower leg as well as sensation in those areas as well.
What Causes Sciatica?
Again sciatica in and of itself is not a disease, but is a symptom of some underlying problem—compression or inflammation of the sciatic nerve. So what can cause compression or inflammation of the sciatic nerve? One of the most common causes of sciatica is compression of part of the sciatic nerve by a bulging or herniated disc. Some other possible causes of compression are bony spurs from spine degeneration, compression by spasming muscles, or even from a tumor or other unusual growth. Another problem that can contribute to sciatica is a spinal subluxation. A spinal subluxation is improper movement or alignment of the spine that results in nerve interference. If that interference is bad enough and causes enough inflammation, it can result in sciatica.
One other thing to know is that subluxation of the pelvis can also cause pain in the buttocks and down the back of the thigh. However, this is not technically sciatica because it is not due to irritation of the sciatic nerve but to the sacro-iliac joints in the pelvis. This is why being checked by a chiropractor is helpful to find the actual cause of the problem.
How Do You Treat Sciatica?
Well the treatment for sciatica would depend on the underlying cause of the problem. Often sciatica pain will subside by itself in a few weeks, but this does not do anything to address the underlying problem and it often will recur over time. Chiropractic is a great option for many causes of sciatica, including bulging or herniated discs. Chiropractic adjustments help restore proper movement and alignment to the spine which can alleviate compression on the sciatic nerve it can also help relax tight muscles in the area that can contribute to sciatica as well. And when the spine is aligned correctly it also takes extra stress on the spinal joints that can lead to inflammation, another possible cause of sciatica.
In fact a study done on patients with sciatica found that under chiropractic care the “period of sick leave among the patients was reduced by two thirds as compared with that associated with conventional medical treatment.”
Occasionally more aggressive treatments are needed to treat the underlying cause of sciatica. However, conservative treatments like chiropractic should be tried first.
References
http://www.merriam-webster.com/medlineplus/sciatica Accessed on December 2, 2014
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17320735 (Abstract) Accessed on December 2, 2014
