Do you suffer from Sciatica or other low back pain? Sciatica and low back pain can be a very painful experience. Low back pain by itself is the most common form of MSK disability worldwide!
Sciatica occurs when the sciatic nerve becomes compressed or irritated, this will cause a shooting pain, tingling, or numbness to travel down the affected leg. For many who suffer from sciatica, sometimes no relief can seem in sight. But there is hope for you! If you live or work in downtown Toronto, and you suffer from sciatica, then you need to keep reading.
As a chiropractor in downtown Toronto, sciatica is a very common condition we see. Most times, the sciatic nerve becomes pinched as it exits the spine at L5. This is most commonly caused by a misalignment at L5. This misalignment can now put pressure onto the nerve and cause low back pain and also cause pain to radiate down the leg, this is now called sciatica. For a smaller percentage of the patients we see, the sciatic nerve is compressed by the piriformis muscle. In 40% of the population, the sciatic nerve actually runs through the piriformis muscle. A spasm in this muscle can cause the nerve to become compressed and create the pain and discomfort travelling down the leg.
So, what we do in our chiropractic clinic is we start by performing a very thorough chiropractic examination and see where the nerve is compressed. We then send you for x-rays to make sure there is no damage to occurring at L5 that might create more damage and pain if we were to adjust that area. Having x-rays taken before getting adjusted makes it much safer for you as the patient. Before we begin treatment, we need to explain to you what exactly has caused your sciatica and what we are going to do to correct it and provide you with a clear timeline for how long that is going to take.
I do not share out specific methods for treating sciatica in this blog as there are others who may attempt to replicate what we are doing without the same level of skill that we have in our clinic.
We have an incredibly great success rate of correcting the cause of sciatica in our clinic. We always strive to provide the best chiropractic care you can find in Toronto! If you suffer from sciatica and are interested to see if we can help, email or call us and ask us some questions to see if we would be a good fit for you as your chiropractor!
