Sciatica
Sciatica is pain running down the leg from the low back, it is determined that between 3% to 30% of people will experience sciatica or sciatica like symptoms at some point in their life. The pain travels along the back front or side of the leg, usually only one leg is affected and the pain may be associated with numbness, loss of sensation or muscle weakness, the pain can be severe affecting quality of life especially working life.
Sciatica can be caused by a few different things, one is pyriformis syndrome where the pyriformis muscle goes into spasm and irritates the sciatic nerve which may pass through it, but by far, almost 85% of sciatica is caused by intervertebral disc herniation where a disc in the lumbar spine presses on the one of the lumbar or sacral nerves.
The disc is made up of hard outer fibres called the annulus fibrosis and a softer interior called the nucleus pulposis, disc herniation occurs when the outer fibres are damaged and the softer interior extrudes past them into the spinal canal where the sciatic nerve is found.
Another factor involved in sciatica is where the nerves mobility inside the leg is impaired, the nerve must run between muscle, through and beside fascia and move and stretch as the leg and back move, this movement can be impaired and has been demonstrated on imaging, think of it as a steering cable running through plastic tubing, rust and debris can form within the tubing preventing normal movement of the cable. This situation can be improved by performing specific movements which in effect act like flossing the nerve within its tract.
Research has shown that Chiropractic adjustments of the spine have a low to moderate effect on acute sciatica, this research is looking at spinal adjustments and does not consider adjunctive treatments such as mobilising the nerve, postural correction, stress reduction and lifestyle changes, all pain management strategies which I believe are likely to have a greater impact on sciatica.
Sciatica can be caused by a few different things, one is pyriformis syndrome where the pyriformis muscle goes into spasm and irritates the sciatic nerve which may pass through it, but by far, almost 85% of sciatica is caused by intervertebral disc herniation where a disc in the lumbar spine presses on the one of the lumbar or sacral nerves.
The disc is made up of hard outer fibres called the annulus fibrosis and a softer interior called the nucleus pulposis, disc herniation occurs when the outer fibres are damaged and the softer interior extrudes past them into the spinal canal where the sciatic nerve is found.
Another factor involved in sciatica is where the nerves mobility inside the leg is impaired, the nerve must run between muscle, through and beside fascia and move and stretch as the leg and back move, this movement can be impaired and has been demonstrated on imaging, think of it as a steering cable running through plastic tubing, rust and debris can form within the tubing preventing normal movement of the cable. This situation can be improved by performing specific movements which in effect act like flossing the nerve within its tract.
Research has shown that Chiropractic adjustments of the spine have a low to moderate effect on acute sciatica, this research is looking at spinal adjustments and does not consider adjunctive treatments such as mobilising the nerve, postural correction, stress reduction and lifestyle changes, all pain management strategies which I believe are likely to have a greater impact on sciatica.