What’s behind your sciatic pain?
Not a week goes by that I can’t find someone living with sciatic pain. This is pain that is felt on the sides of the lower back that shoots up into the buttocks and sometimes even down the back of the legs. The two sciatic nerves are the longest nerves in the human nervous system. When these nerves are damaged, they affect a person’s daily functioning.
This pain doesn’t have to mean a lifetime of pain relievers and limited mobility. Sciatic pain is not a life sentence. Not only is it possible to eliminate this pain completely, but with proactive care, it is realistic to hope that it will never return.
The first step towards freedom is understanding how the nerve was damaged. The modern lifestyle of the average American is brutal on the spine. We sit for longer periods of time, our waistline expands, and we work harder than ever to achieve the world’s idea of success. Sitting still for hours and then bending over, standing up, or twisting – this puts incredible stress on the vertebrae in your lower back. When the vertebrae become misaligned, this is called a subluxation. Subluxations place dangerous pressure on the nervous system by inhibiting, or even cutting off, the nerve’s ability to receive messages from the brain, which is the basis of how our bodies function.
The truth is, I am not overly concerned about the pain that occurs when the sciatic nerve is damaged. I have no doubt that pain is debilitating and makes life extremely difficult; I’m sorry for you. But I’m more concerned with the fact that the sciatic nerves are what control the function of the urinary and reproductive systems. When the L4 and L5 vertebrae are subluxed, the sciatic nerves cannot do what they were created to do.
One of my patients, we’ll call her Mary, came in complaining of sciatic pain. In the process of researching her medical history, we found that Mary also struggled with incontinence; something you never thought was related to lower back pain. After regular chiropractic care, not only has your pain disappeared, but you have regained full control of your bladder. By releasing the passage from the brain to the nerves, Mary’s body went into healing mode and returned to full function. Maria is 67 years old.
Another patient, let’s call her Susanne, had been trying to get pregnant for two years when she walked through our doors with sciatic back pain. Again, he never imagined that one had anything to do with the other. I am very happy to report that, with regular chiropractic care, Susanne is happily pregnant.
“But Matt,” you might say, “I saw a chiropractor years ago and went to physical therapy. It’s just not going to go away.”
Perhaps you have already consulted doctors about your sciatic pain and nothing has helped you. Or, more frustratingly, maybe he left briefly only to come back roaring. It is important to remember that not all types of rehabilitation are the same, even within medicine. The way a family doctor treats a concern is different from the approach another doctor will take. Do not lose hope. The fact that you have already invested energy in rehabilitation, different types of exercises or manipulations of the spine does not mean that you have exhausted all the options. We have witnessed hundreds of patient success stories that were once desperate. Always be hopeful.
Yes; Chiropractic care is good for eliminating pain. But more important than anything, it is a vital step in your routine to maintain your overall health. Make an important decision to start chiropractic care today and start seeing all that your body is capable of.