Sciatica- Conservative Management San Diego
Sciatica is a term that encompasses any condition that that can effect the sciatic nerve. Low back and hip injuries are the most common types of injuries that produce sciatica or sciatic symptoms. Less commonly, peripheral entrapment of the nerve around the hamstrings, and lower leg muscles cause sciatica symptoms in the back of the leg. Our San Diego chiropractor at Peak Form Health Center has treated countless conditions that cause sciatica symptoms.
What causes Sciatic Symptoms?
The sciatic nerve is made up of many different nerve roots from the low back and sacrum (tail bone). The nerve roots are extensions from the spinal cord that exit the spine to form peripheral nerves (ex: sciatic nerve is a peripheral nerve). If you have a back injury like a disc bulge, the disc bulge can press on the exiting nerve root which causes nerve irritation. Nerve irritation symptoms can cause numbness, tingling, hot/cold sensations, shooting pain, loss of sensation, and/or loss of function to the muscles that nerve innervates. Those same symptoms are what are described as “sciatica” but typically patients refer to sharp shooting pain as sciatica. Other conditions that can cause sciatica are:
- Low back injury- See our post on types of low back pain here: Different Types of Low Back Pain
- Disc bulge
- Disc herniation
- Piriformis syndrome– see our thorough blog post on piriformis syndrome here: Piriformis Syndrome: Overview and Causes Piriformis Syndrome Part II- Evaluation Piriformis Syndrome Part III- Treatment
- Degenerative Disc Disease
- Degenerative Joint Disease
- Foraminal stenosis of the lumbar spine (Bone Spurring)
- Central canal stenosis
- Sciatic nerve entrapment
- Spondylolisthesis
In rare but serious cases, sciatic symptoms may be due to: tumors, infection, tethered spinal cord, and other neurological conditions.
Conservative Management for Sciatica
First and foremost, a proper diagnosis is required to treat your symptoms effectively. Depending on what the cause is and how long it has been going on, usually a combination of manual therapy, specific exercise protocols, and home education can help resolve sciatica. Let’s take piriformis syndrome as an example. In piriformis syndrome, the piriformis muscles compresses the sciatic nerve. To treat this, targeted Active Release Techique and other myofascial release techniques often results in drastic improvement of symptoms. If however, the sciatica is due to a low back condition, manual therapy to the piriformis muscle will likely not result in significant relief of symptoms.
To reiterate the first point, it is important to see a sports chiropractor or sports medicine professional who will accurately diagnose what is causing the sciatica. Many times we see patients who have been dealing with sciatic symptoms for months and have been doing self treatments that are actually perpetuating their symptoms. Be very wary of a “do this one thing for your sciatica.” type blog post as it may be causing more harm than good.
Our San Diego based chiropractic group treats many different causes of sciatic symptoms. If there is ever concern of a more serious condition causing sciatica, or further investigation is required, we will make an appropriate referral to get the best care for you. Schedule today to get a thorough evaluation. Our office is conveniently located in Mission Valley, San Diego.
