Sciatic pain can be extremely trying on a person, sometimes causing pain from the hip right down through one of the legs and even into the foot. The sciatic nerve is a nerve that runs from the hip area and down to the feet in both legs, and sciatic pain typically occurs when the nerve is pinched in the lower back due to a misalignment of one or more discs in the spine.
This nerve pain can be present around the clock in extreme cases and can make it difficult for sufferers to perform daily tasks or get a good amount of sleep during the night. But to treat sciatica, it is necessary to identify the problem, and for this, an MRI scan is normally needed.
Once you have a clear diagnosis, a chiropractor can help to ease the symptoms and eventually help to realign the discs so that the sciatic pain becomes a thing of the past. These are some of the treatments that you might encounter:
Spinal manipulation
The classic view of the chiropractor is somebody who sharply cracks a person's back to miraculously free them of pain. This is called spinal manipulation, but it involves many more movements other than the famous back crack. For this kind of back pain treatment, it's extremely important to see a chiropodist because the spine is such a fundamental part of the body that requires the expertise of medical professionals trained in working with the spine. For sciatic pain, you will probably encounter more of a gentle mode of spinal manipulation, so don't be scared to make the appointment.
Ultrasound therapy
An ultrasound is something that you might have encountered during a medical examination, but perhaps not as a mode of pain treatment. Ultrasound can actually stimulate the deep muscle tissue in the lower back, and this will increase blood flow to this region of the body, which should result in less inflammation and, thus, less pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Hot/cold treatments
Many chiropractors work with temperature for all kinds of neck and back problems, and sciatic pain is no exception. Applying cold packs, like ultrasound, is something that reduces inflammation, and this is a treatment that is also fairly simple to do yourself at home. A heat pack will release tight muscles, which won't actually help the herniated disc but will offer some pain relief. If applying a heat pack at home, make sure that you don't apply anything hot directly to the skin.
Contact a local chiropractor for more information.
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