Sciatica affects many people. Sciatica is a condition where pain radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve. This nerve travels from the lower back, through your hips and buttocks and down each leg. It can be caused by compression of a spinal nerve. This can occur when the vertebra in the lumbar spine misalign (subluxate), your discs become inflamed or herniated, or your piriformis muscle is tight putting pressure on the nerve.
If you suffer with this condition, sciatica affects your muscles and can lead to atrophy. The British Journal of Radiology recently did a study how sciatica affects the paraspinal and psoas muscles.
They found the side of sciatica showed atrophy or decreased muscle mass.
Injuries, medical conditions and daily repetitive stress can cause your spinal bones to subluxate. This results in restricted range of motion. It also puts added pressure on the discs causing them to inflame or herniate. These misalignments put pressure on nerves. Pain, numbness and tingling are very common. Muscle atrophy develops the longer the nerves are affected. This can further reduce muscle strength and mobility. When you have low back pain, the resulting muscle atrophy can cause compensation leading to more serious injuries.
It’s important to get treated for sciatica quickly before the pain worsens and leads to muscle atrophy. Medications might mask the symptoms but it doesn’t remove pressure from the nerve. Chiropractors find the cause of the sciatica. Adjustments realign the joints to get pressure off the discs and nerves. Therapeutic stretching can be used if it is found the piriformis muscle is causing the impingement.
Our Freehold chiropractor utilizes a combination of chiropractic adjustments, therapeutic stretching and core stabilization exercises to provide patients with optimal treatment to correct sciatica.