Sciatica Treatment at Your Dayton/Beavercreek Chiropractor

Sciatica is a term that describes various unpleasant sensations such as numbness, weakness, and pain that starts in the lower back, continues through the hips and buttocks, and runs down the main sciatic nerve in each leg. Sciatica is not a condition in and of itself but a symptom of something causing it.

Symptoms of Sciatica

Sciatic nerve pain can vary widely, depending on the person suffering from it and the underlying cause. For some people it can be a dull ache that never goes away. For others sciatica can be sharp and burning to the point of being unbearably excruciating. Sometimes the sciatica can manifest itself as a jolt like an electric shock. Tingling, muscle weakness, or numbness can also be symptoms. Some sufferers experience numbness in one part of the leg and pain in the other. Sneezing, standing up, or sitting down can exacerbate the condition.  Sciatic nerve pain usually takes place down one side of the buttocks, hips, a single leg and sometimes the foot but rarely in both legs.

What Causes Sciatica?

• A number of lower back problems can cause sciatic nerve pain.
• A lumbar herniated disk happens when the disk is ruptured, and the soft material leaks and irritates the sciatic nerve.
• Degenerative disk disease is the result of aging and irritates the nerve.
• Isthmic spondylolisthesis results from a stress fracture in the spine that causes one part to press against another, pinching the nerve.
• Lumbar spinal stenosis narrows the spinal canal and irritates the sciatic nerve.
• Piriformis syndrome is caused when the piriformis muscle irritates the nerve in the buttock.
• Sacroiliac joint dysfunction actually originates in the sacroiliac joint at the bottom of the spine and can result in sciatica-type pain.
• Pregnancy scar tissue, a tumor on the spine, a fracture, and an infection can also cause sciatica-like symptoms.

Contact Our Office Today!

Our chiropractor, Dr. Briggs, can perform a number of physical therapies and prescribe exercises that can address sciatic nerve pain. Physical therapy conducted by a trained, experienced professional can help to align the spine better, thus alleviating the sciatic nerve pain and addressing some of the underlying causes of the sciatica. The therapy can assist in healing as the condition subsides, usually in six to twelve weeks.

For more information on sciatica and how the condition can be treated, contact us at (937) 789-7341, located at 1353 Woodman Drive, Dayton/Beavercreek, OH, 45432.