Managing Your Leg Pain: Can a Chiropractor Help My Sciatica?
Any kind of pain is disruptive to your life, but nerve pain like sciatica can really decrease your ability to do the things you enjoy. Learning how to manage this pain and who can help you are important to getting you back to what you love.
What is Sciatica?
Sciatica is a term that gets thrown around a lot for any pain that shoots down your leg, which is partially correct. “True” sciatica is rare, occurring when there is a physical injury to the sciatic nerve. The word “sciatica” usually describes compression of the nerve from a variety of causes. These causes include a tight piriformis muscle, a disc herniation, pregnancy, or a lumbar spine (low back) vertebrae issue like arthritis or stenosis.
The key symptoms indicating sciatica are:
burning or aching pain traveling down the back of the leg and sometimes into the foot
tingling or numbness in the leg and/or foot
weakness in the lower leg and/or foot
What can I do about my Sciatica?
Sciatica can be a challenge to treat because each different cause requires a different treatment approach. That said, there are some general suggestions you can follow to reduce your pain levels.
Keep moving
Movement is vital for managing most conditions affecting your muscles, bones, and nerves. Even short walks, just until you start having pain, can strengthen your body while loosening up your muscles. Sitting too much can cause your muscles to tighten up, placing pressure on the sciatic nerve or causing other problems.
Movement also increases the sensory input into your nervous system. Proprioceptive input travels from your muscles and joints to your brain, telling it where your body is in space. These signals can block or intercept the pain signals from getting to your brain. The thing creating the pain still exists, but your brain doesn’t get the signals telling it that you’re hurting.
If you already know you love to do something, like biking, running, swimming, yoga, or whatever it be - keep doing that! If your activity of choice flares up your sciatica, note how long it takes to worsen your symptoms and build from there. In this case, the phrase “no pain, no gain” does not really apply; avoid pushing yourself too hard, or you’ll pay for it later. (Better to be active for 15 minutes 7 days a week, than for 30 minutes one day followed by 6 days of rest due to pain.) For example, if you can swim for 15 minutes without pain, then stop there. Each day you can bump the time up by a minute or two and see how you respond. Slow, methodical increases will give your body the chance to strengthen itself while also keeping you active.
If you don’t have something you love, go shopping for it! Try different activities. Walking is an easy place to start. If you really hate going out for a walk, you can look into other activities, like golf or disc golf, that allow you to do something while getting your steps in. Alternatively, you can find a friend, family member, or neighbor to go for a walk with you and get your socializing and exercise in at the same time. As we said, note how long it takes to worsen your symptoms and build from there. There are a wide variety of opportunities in the West Hennepin and Wright County areas - you just have to find what makes your heart sing (literally and figuratively).
Stretching for Sciatica
Unfortunately, there’s not one great stretch for sciatica, as each cause of sciatica requires a different approach. However, nerve flossing can often help reduce symptoms. Nerve flossing consists of a movement that glides a nerve along its pathway, allowing it to move more freely. A key issue with many nerve problems, like sciatica or any other pinched nerve, is compression of the nerve. This compression irritates the nerve, causing it to generate pain along its entire path.
Flossing the sciatic nerve is best done seated. Start by sitting down on a solid surface, like a hard-backed chair. Extend your affected leg straight out in front of you. Extend your head back, looking up to the ceiling, while bringing your toes up towards your nose. Then bring your chin towards your chest while pointing your toes straight out in front of you. Repeat 10-15 times, 2-3 times per day, or as needed to manage symptoms.
This same motion can be done standing if needed, such as if you work at a job that requires you to stand for extended periods of time. To do this standing, hold onto something to help steady yourself. Flex your affected leg in front of you, just a few inches off the ground. Follow the same pattern of movement, looking up while bringing your toes towards your nose, then looking down while pointing your toes. Repeat 10-15 times, 2-3 times per day, or as needed to manage symptoms.
The biggest thing with sciatic nerve flossing is to move your head and toes together as directed. If the timing gets off and you extend your head while pointing your toes, your sciatic nerve can get mildly stretched, potentially worsening your symptoms. Moving slowly through this movement is just fine. You can do this anywhere at any time and is often more convenient than other stretches. If you’re noticing your sciatica acting up, take yourself through these movements.
Heat vs. Ice
Heating and icing are often used to address pain. Both have their pros and cons, but it‘s kind of a tossup as to whether you do one, both, or neither.
Heat can help to loosen muscles and increase blood flow to injured areas. However, if you do this too soon or too much, the affected area might become more painful and inflamed than it was. On the other hand, ice or cold can manage pain and inflammation, but recent research suggests that it impairs the healing process.
The choice between heating and icing ultimately comes down to what makes you feel the best. Some people see improvement in their symptoms after doing one and get worse after doing the other. Others see no difference with either. The answer, for most people, is to experiment and see what works. After trying one, notice how you’re feeling right after you're done, as well as how you respond 30 and 60 minutes after stopping the heat or cold.
If you decide to heat, make sure to only heat for a maximum of 15 minutes at a time. Ensure that you have a towel or another barrier between you and the heat source to avoid burns. If you decide on ice, make sure to ice for only 15 minutes at a time to avoid mild frostbite or other complications. Like with heat, ensure that there is a towel or another barrier between you and the cold source.
Can a chiropractor help with sciatica?
The short answer to this question: yes! A chiropractor can help with sciatica.
The longer answer: As we’ve said, sciatica can have a variety of causes, and each cause requires a different approach and treatment. While you might be able to treat this yourself, it can be a challenge without some guidance. Additionally, if you have certain mobility issues or tight muscles, it might be hard to deal with those yourself. Having someone else, like a chiropractor, who can dive in and work on those things can help you recover faster.
When you come in for your sciatica symptoms, we will go through your health history and do a thorough exam of your lower back and legs. This will let us know if there’s anything bigger going on, like a severely herniated disc, and guide our treatment. For example, if your piriformis is tight and squeezing your sciatic nerve, we will focus on stretching your piriformis and ensuring that your low back and hip are moving correctly.
Regardless of what exactly we find, we will develop a treatment plan specifically for you, keeping your health and goals in mind. This treatment plan could include lifestyle changes like increasing your daily movement, stretches and exercises for your specific issue, or dietary changes to help address inflammation in your body.
If you’ve been trying to manage your sciatica on your own for more than two weeks without great results, it’s time to visit an expert.
Schedule online, or call or text us to schedule your appointment today.
Wishing you the best,
Dr. Carlson
Doctor of Chiropractic
Northbound Chiropractic
Serving Delano, Maple Plain, and the rest of Wright and West Hennepin Counties