Do You Have Sciatica?

Sciatica in Brookline, or sciatic neuritis, is a form of nerve pinching or irritation that is usually felt in one or both legs. The pain may start in the hip or buttock region, and may travel down to the thigh, calf, behind the knee, to the shin, and sometimes to the foot or ankle. Sciatica may be associated with spinal osteoarthritis or disc degeneration (herniated, protruded) and is usually a bone caused by a bone in the spine that is out of proper alignment, restricted in its movement, or both. Sciatica may also be caused, in part, by tightness of a muscle called the piriformis muscle, which is located in the buttock.

As stated above, some of the symptoms of sciatica in Brookline may include pain in the hip or buttock region, as well as the thigh, calf, knee, shin, ankle and/or foot. There may also be sensations of numbness, pins and needles and tingling usually in the calf, shin, ankle and parts of the foot. Pain may also be felt in both legs, and this is usually considered to be a possible more severe form of sciatica known as bilateral sciatica. Sciatica may also be accompanied in a perceived weakness of muscles, usually in one leg.

Traditional treatments for sciatica usually include: pain medications (either over-the-counter medications such as Motrin, Tylenol, Advil, Alleve, etc., or prescription pain meds such as oxycodone); physical therapy; epidural steroid injections; and/or surgery. Unfortunately, these treatments are often not effective, or do not fully eliminate pain or correct the cause of the sciatic pain.

In almost thirty-two years of practice, I have had the opportunity at Brookline Chiropractic Center to successfully treat many, many sciatica cases (in fact I see patients with sciatica almost every day). In most of these cases, once we locate the cause of the sciatica (which is usually abnormal movement and/or positioning of a lower back vertebra), we are then able to start GENTLY correct the abnormality using low-force spinal manipulation (without the “cracking” or popping of bones some people find scary or uncomfortable). Many patients find these treatments to be the only thing that has truly been able to finally help them.

Sometimes, when sciatica pain starts to go away, there is still some underlying spinal bone misalignment that must be corrected so pain does not return at some point. The goal of treatment is to get a person out of pain as soon as possible, limit the formation of spinal osteoarthritis, and also to do everything we can to keep a patient away from invasive procedures such as surgery, steroid injections, etc.

A good chiropractor, properly trained to examine and treat a patient with sciatic pain, may be a life saver. My advice: give us a call at Brookline Chiropractic Center for a pain-free evaluation to see if we can help you with your sciatica.