Sciatica can be a debilitating condition. It happens when the sciatic nerve is irritated, which sends radiating pains down the affected side. Typical sciatica presentation affects the lower back, hip, buttock, back of the thigh, and calf. The pain is often described as burning or stabbing, and the leg can also feel numb or weak.
Sciatica can be caused by a number of factors:
- Compression of the nerve roots in the lumbar spine
- Lumbar disc herniation
- Bone spurs
- Spondylolisthesis
- Spinal stenosis
- Piriformis syndrome
How Can Upper Cervical Chiropractic Help Sciatica?
The first thing you think of when your low back is troubling you probably isn’t your neck. However, that just might be the key to healing from low back and sciatica problems. Sometimes, where the pain is felt is not necessarily where the problem is. This happens through a series of compensations that can start when the atlas, the uppermost vertebra in the spine, becomes misaligned. The atlas is the most freely movable one of the entire spine, and due to accident or injury, can be most vulnerable to misaligning. When this happens, the head cannot be carried properly, leading to postural compensations throughout the spine. In many people, this manifests as lower back pain that compresses the sciatic nerve.
The key to lasting relief is getting at the root cause. If your atlas has shifted, then it can be a contributing factor in the development of other back pains, and it must be corrected in order for things to heal properly. Once we are able to correct the atlas back to its normal position beneath the skull, then postural compensations and unequal muscle tension can reduce naturally, leading to lasting relief. If you’ve exhausted your other options and are still suffering from low back pain and sciatica, then it’s likely that the root of the problem has not yet been addressed.
References:
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