Can chiropractic help with sciatica pain?

The simple answer is YES ABSOLUTELY!!!

Very often patients will tell us that they have chronic, unrelenting back pain with pain that shoots down their leg. It has gotten so bad that it wakes them up at night and they cannot figure out what is causing it or how to make it go away.

Most often providers will prescribe pain medication and anti-inflammatories, which in the beginning can actually work VERY well to alleviate more of the acute symptoms. Many of these patients find that, once they are done taking the medication, they are either right back in pain again, or it slowly comes back again over time. These patients then tend to progress to shots and sometimes physical therapy.

Chiropractors look at Sciatica very differently. We know that the Sciatic nerve began from a nerve root that exits your spine. We also know that your Sciatic nerve travels in and around very specific muscle groups in your hip and glutes. We KNOW that form and function contribute to Sciatica, and that that must be addressed in order for our patients to feel better AND for them to be empowered to continue caring for themselves if they notice it returning.

Very often, Sciatica is a result of a lack of CORE STRENGTH, resulting in a hyperextension of the low back, causing disc bulging and inflammation that ultimately impacts the Sciatic nerve. Years of hyperextension in the low back can contribute to inflammation of the joints and ligaments in the low back which also contributes to impingement syndromes and Sciatic pain.

In addition, the piriformis muscle and other gluteal muscles, can become tightened and create compressive forces around the Sciatic nerve causing impingement and radiating pain.