The sciatic nerve runs from your lower back, through your pelvis and branches off into your lower extremities. When you feel pain in this nerve, it shoots down the backs of your legs like volts of electricity and makes it nearly impossible to move without writhing in agony. Chiropractic manipulation can help with many cases of sciatica, and here is what you can expect when you start treatment.

Spinal X-rays

The first step in any chiropractic plan is an x-ray. The x-ray shows where there might be physical deformities or issues in the lower part of your back or your lower extremities, causing your sciatic nerve pain. Degenerative disc disease and herniated discs that push their way out of alignment and onto the sciatic nerve are both treatable causes of your pain. A sciatic nerve that is completely caught and pinched between a vertebra and a disc or squeezed against the inside of your pelvis is something chiropractors cannot manipulate, but can massage your lower back and buttocks to provide some relief.

Determining Your Treatment Plan

If you have sciatica because of a treatable problem (i.e., one that your chiropractor can treat without surgery), then your chiropractor will formulate a treatment plan. This often includes regular office visits for spinal adjustments and massage therapy, but could also include electromagnetic nerve stimulation to block the flow of pain reception and/or acupuncture to achieve a similar effect to electromagnetic nerve stimulation. Your chiropractor will discuss your treatment options with you at the first (post-x-ray) visit and you can select which treatments you are open to trying alongside your regular chiropractic care.

The Chiropractic Manipulations

Starting on your side or your stomach, your chiropractor will choose how to position you before manipulating your hips and lower spine into a more comfortable position. Then he or she will probably have you lay prone (on your stomach) to use gentle pressure to push herniated discs back into place and away from the sciatic nerve so that some of the pain and pressure you feel diminishes. Finally, using the heels of his or her hands, pressure is applied to your hips and buttocks in such a way as to block the pain signal while also providing a deep tissue massage to relax your muscles (which also might be causing some of the nerve pain you feel). After your manipulations, the chiropractor may send you to the physical therapist to loosen up and stretch, or refer you to other specialists, depending on your treatment plan. 

Find a trusted local chiropractor, such as Black Horse Chiropractic, today.