Back Pain Conditions }}

Sciatica

Sciatica is actually a symptom of lower back pain, where pain travels down the back of your leg. The sciatic nerve is formed from the lower joints in your spine, the nerve trunk then runs through the pelvis, then through or next to one of the deep pelvic muscles. From there it travels down your leg to your feet.

Pain can occur as the nerve is irritated at the source or anywhere along its path. This is why sciatic pain can be at times hard to diagnose, as there are 4 common causes.

What causes sciatica?

The causes are not necessarily obvious, most people believe back pain is caused by how you lift, bend or twist. When in fact, it is the accumulation of many small injuries over a period of time. These small injuries place tension on your muscles and joints which pull your spine out of alignment (spinal imbalances).

Once your spine is out of balance then pressure can irritate the sciatic nerve at the joint level or anywhere along its path. There are hence four common situations that occur that can lead to sciatica.

The least common is in fact a herniated disc. Statistics say that over 60% of adults have disc bulges, yet have no back pain. If the disc continues to become compressed, then the disc may herniate and irritate the sciatic nerve at its source.

Spinal stenosis where your spinal canal has become reduced may also create sciatic pain by irritating the nerve at the source. Again this is less common.

The two most common cause of sciatica are in fact from the Piriformis muscle becoming tight, where it squeezes or irritates the nerve while it travels through the pelvis, or spinal imbalances that twist and distort the spine and pelvis.

What are the symptoms of sciatica?

Sciatica can cause a variety of aches and pains, the first signs can be a tingling or sensation of pins/needles in the buttock area. As the nerve irritation increase this turns into pain which can then travel down the leg to your toes.

Severe pain can also cause a loss of power and strength in the muscles of your legs, and if this occurs you should seek help as soon as possible. You can also have sciatic pain and no lower back pain at all. This is determined by where the nerve is irritated.

What are the common treatments for sciatica?

Pain relief can be achieved with medications or supplements to ease inflammation and educe muscle tension. These are temporary measures as are most orthodox treatments. Chiropractors will adjust your lower back (sometimes your pelvis), Physiotherapists will get you stretching the lower back and Piriformis muscle.

Most treatments have poor success at long term relief as they fail to address the cause of your pain. You must identify which of the 4 common causes of pain you have, and eliminate each to get long term relief.

What sciatica treatments work best?

To get effective relief you must first detect which spinal imbalances are occurring, assess whether your Piriformis muscles is out of balance, as well as rule out the more serious issues of stenosis or disc herniations.

Once the cause is identified you need to reduce pain levels so your body can heal faster, and then use corrective techniques to rebalance your spine. The principles of Spinal Balancing address the both the pain of sciatica and also the root cause of the condition that is responsible for your sciatica. Through self assessments, your individual spinal imbalances can be identified, and a targeted corrective program can be developed for your specific needs.

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