Sciatica treatment that addresses the root cause of the pain.

Your spine is comprised of twenty-four moveable bones (called vertebrae) and the discs between them. The discs are much softer than bone, and provide the spine with mobility and the ability to withstand load. The space that the discs create between the bones allow the spinal nerves to exit the spine and travel throughout the body. As a result of repeated stress or trauma a disc can start to bulge out of its normal position and put pressure on the nerves in that area.

Once the disc structure is compromised it becomes weaker and more likely to continue to degenerate unless the proper intervention is implemented. Although disc herniations can be difficult to fully heal, with the proper care and lifestyle choices your body can improve greatly and minimize the likelihood of pain in the future. Disc injury care →

With Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) the discs between your spinal bones break down and actually begin to compress. The more the discs breakdown the more compression your spinal nerves start to experience. This process can happen almost anywhere throughout the spine and will almost always create some level of pain and/or discomfort. If the discs in the lumbopelvic spine are compromised the sciatic nerve can be affected, leading to sciatica.

With regular chiropractic care we can slow and/or stop the progression of DDD, because we restore healthy motion to the affected joint. It is always our expectation that when someone starts to care for their spine regularly and consistently the impact of DDD on how they feel and function becomes lessened and even completely unnoticeable over time. Low back pain care →

There are openings between your vertebrae where your nerves exit to service your body. Spinal stenosis occurs when those spaces narrow which creates less space for your nerves to easily pass, leading to pressure and compression on the sensitive nervous system tissue.

In the beginning, spinal stenosis may cause no symptoms at all. As those spaces become narrower, symptoms develop and worsen over time. We commonly find spinal stenosis in the low back, and symptoms most often include severe pain, numbness, and weakness. Ultimately, any tissue that relies on the signaling from the affected nerves will be compromised and lose proper function over time.

Subluxation occurs when the joints of your spine lose proper structure and/or function. This impairment ultimately creates stress and interference in the nervous system’s ability to communicate with the body. The consequences of this can be varied, sciatica is just one of the many symptoms that can arise from subluxation.

By improving the structure and function of the spinal joints through regular adjustments there will be less stress and compression on your nervous system which will ultimately improve how you feel. Spinal alignment →

Hours of sitting keep your hips bent, your glutes switched off and your low back holding one position for long stretches. Over months and years, the muscles that support your spine lose strength and the joints are not stimulated as much as they should have been. That combination can be very dangerous and set the foundation for the degenerative changes that can so easily create sciatica.

The encouraging part is that at any time anyone can make the decision to start moving more. In four studies that followed more than 34,000 adults for 12 to 30 years, people who walked or biked to work had about a 33% lower risk of being hospitalized for sciatica, while obesity and smoking each raised the risk (Shiri et al., American Journal of Medicine, 2017). A review of long-term studies found that people who exercised four or more times a week were modestly less likely to develop sciatica than people with no regular exercise (Shiri et al., European Journal of Pain, 2016).

The piriformis is a small muscle deep in your buttock that helps turn your hip outward. The sciatic nerve runs right beside it, and in some people it passes through it. When the piriformis is tight, irritated or in a state of spasm, it can squeeze the nerve and cause pain that starts deep in the buttock and travels down the back of the leg.

Piriformis syndrome is estimated to be behind roughly 0.3% to 6% of low back pain and sciatica cases, and it is linked to prolonged sitting and overuse in athletes (Hicks et al., StatPearls, 2023). The symptoms reported most often are buttock pain, pain that gets worse with sitting, tenderness deep in the buttock, and pain when the hip is moved in ways that stretch the muscle (Hopayian et al., European Spine Journal, 2010). Because it can feel a lot like a disc problem, a thorough exam is the only way to tell the two apart.