Chiropractic Treatment, Causes and Symptoms of Sciatica

 What is Sciatica? Doctors of Chiropractic (DC) medicine or commonly called chiropractors, normally treat sciatica — a pain that initiates in the lower back and travels down to the legs. Sciatic nerve pain may be minimal or moderate or it can also be severe and occasional, as well as constant, or intermittent.  Pain can also be described as sharp or dull or it can be a small pain that is similar with a pin or needle prick but it can also be as hard as an electric shock. Other patients feel  burning, or tingling sensations as well as numbness on the affected area. Sometimes sciatica is also known as radiating pain or neuralgia. Many may think that sciatica is a disorder but actually, it is a symptom of a disorder. The root cause of sciatica is nerve compression due to lumbar spine subluxations, herniated or bulging discs, and other non-spinal disorders such as constipation, diabetes, etc. One cause of sciatica is piriformis syndrome from the name piriformis muscle located at the lower part of the spine that connects to the thigh bone and helps in the hip rotation.  Read below for more information about the common causes of sciatica. Common Causes of Sciatica The most common causes of sciatica are the six lower back problems as follows: Degenerative disc disease. It may be associated with aging but degenerative disc disease in the lower back is the cause of an irritation of a nerve root that can cause sciatica. Lumbar herniated disc. Also called slipped disc, ruptured disc or pinched nerve, lumbar herniated disc occurs when the soft material in the innermost portion of a disc protrudes through the fibrous outer core and inflames the contiguous nerve root. Isthmic spondylolisthesis. Sciatica happens when a small stress fracture causes a vertebral body to slip out on another such as the L5 vertebra slipping forward over the S1 vertebra. Piriformis syndrome. Pain occurs when the piriformis muscle located at the lower part of the spine irritates a nerve root comprising the sciatic nerve. Lumbar spinal stenosis. the spinal canal gets narrowed due to the natural aging in the spine especially when the person is over 60 years old. Lumbar spinal stenosis happens when any of the following or a combination of the following occurs: overgrowth of soft tissue, enlarged facet joints, bulging disc pressuring on the nerve roots — all of them cause sciatica pain. Oftentimes, lumbar spinal stenosis occurs due to the existence of spinal arthritis that contribute to sciatica symptoms. Sacroiliac joint dysfunction. The sacroiliac joint is located at the bottom of the spine and when irritated, it can cause sciatica-type pain. It may not be a real radiculopathy but the pain in the leg may feel similar to sciatica due to the nerve irritation. Sciatica Symptoms Among the symptoms of sciatica are burning or tingling sensation running down the leg; pain from the lower back or buttocks going to the leg or both legs; pain that gets worse when sitting; […]