What is Sciatica?

Sciatica is pain in the large sciatic nerve that runs from the lower part of the spine and down the leg. It’s a common condition that results when the nerve is injured, inflamed, or compressed. Causes include trauma and degenerative diseases like arthritis. Most often, the culprit is a herniated disk that presses on the nerve root. These disks are pads between your spinal vertebrae that provide protection from friction and impacts.

Symptoms may include pain, numbness, or weakness that radiates down your leg and can even affect your feet. The pain may begin suddenly or build up over time. It usually feels worse in the leg than in the back, and the effect many people experience is of sharp jolts or a burning sensation.

Common risk factors include: 

• Aging, which wears down your spine’s bones and disks
• Weakness in the core muscles that must support your lower back
• Being overweight, which puts extra stress on back muscles
• Frequent heavy lifting
• Sitting for long periods of time
• Previous back injury
• Diseases such as osteoarthritis
• Unhealthy lifestyle habits like smoking and lack of exercise

Natural Remedies Versus Drugs and Surgery for Sciatica Pain

The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in your body; experiencing pain there can be disruptive to daily life tasks. People may assume that drugs are the quickest fix for their discomfort, unaware of the pitfalls of invasive measures that don’t resolve the source of pain. Surgery is another type of treatment for sciatica, but it’s considered a last resort that can usually be avoided.

Fortunately, most people with sciatica get better with conservative treatments over time. Ice or heat packs, gentle stretches, and chiropractic adjustments are some important parts of a holistic, safe treatment plan.

Chiropractic Care for Sciatica

Research has increasingly shown the safety and effectiveness of chiropractors’ natural approach in treating sciatica and other types of back pain. 

Spinal adjustments bring the spine into alignment, relieving painful pressure on nerves. In one study, subjects suffering from local and radiating back pain were divided into two groups. One group received spinal manipulations, while the other was given simulated manipulations. Researchers found that genuine manipulations provided a better result in relieving acute back pain and sciatica symptoms. 

When it comes to sciatica, your chiropractor can complement care from your medical doctor, helping to diagnose, heal, and even prevent pain without medication. 

Schedule Your Complimentary Appointment at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic

Our goal is to alleviate your pain and help you reach your health potential. Call our Broken Arrow office today at 918-940-4630.

The post A Natural Solution for Sciatica: Chiropractic Care first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Corrective Chiropractic care improves movement in the spine, alignment of vertebra, and function of the central nervous system. The process helps the spine becomes stronger and more able to cope with stress. Brand new research reveals the consequences of abnormal spinal alignment on the health and integrity of the spine. Alteration of spinal curvature and alignment increases the amount and degree of spinal degeneration and presence of disc herniation.

What is a Disc Herniation?

A disc herniation defines as a protrusion of the nucleus pulposus or anulus fibrosus of the disk, which may impinge on nerve roots. A simpler definition states that disc herniation takes place when a small tear occurs to the disc and a jelly-like material partially squeezes out. Sometimes the protrusion will impinge a nerve root and cause significant pain. Many herniations develop like cavities in teeth. Little to no pain and discomfort present until the advanced stages of existence. Disc herniations always lead to instability in the spinal segment and further the degenerative process if the alignment and function remain uncorrected. Chiropractic care improves and reduces disc herniations by increasing motion and alignment of the spinal curvature.

The Importance of Chiropractic

Spinal alignment plays an important role in the health and longevity of the spine and intervertebral discs. A spinal disc consists of cartilage and water and serves as protection and padding between two spinal vertebrae. Proper spinal alignment makes the spine stronger and more durable, capable of withstanding pressure and stress. The neck curvature, also known as the cervical lordosis, also serves a vital role. The neck curve proves essential for maintaining balance and motor function and helps maintain the stability of the spine. The neck curve cushions the vertebra by allowing appropriate room for each disc to move without stress. The essential load-bearing function makes the neck curvature a predominant area for disc degeneration and herniations.

What causes a decreased spinal curve?

Abnormal neck curvature represents an early manifestation of degenerative changes in the spine. Lifestyles of the younger demographic have become increasingly sedentary while adding stress and pressure on the spine and neck curvature due to repetitive and poor postural habits. Increased use of texting, smartphones, tablets, and computer work has added significant weight-bearing stress to the alignment, movement, and function of the spine.

What does the research show?

Research shows a specific correlation between loss of cervical curvature and increased spinal degeneration and subsequent disc herniations. A decreased degree of disc herniations took place in those with improved or normal neck curvatures. A cervical spine with no curve essentially faces double the risk of disc herniations. One of the primary goals of corrective Chiropractic care focuses on improving the movement of the vertebra, alignment and curvature of the spine, and function of the nervous system. Chiropractic care reduces the degenerative process and decreases the risk of disc herniations. Every child and adult benefits from regular spinal check-ups that ensure proper alignment and function.
Decreased

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Why do kids have so much back pain?  Let’s start with their big heavy backpacks that don’t quite fit that they sling over one shoulder.  While I frequently recommend smaller backpacks, keeping more in your locker and roller bags, that isn’t always realistic.  At the very least, be sure to wear a backpack with adjustable straps over both shoulders and the best scenario would be to use a waist strap too.  Where do you get something like that?  Try Dick’s or another sporting goods store.

Just like any office worker, if you sit all day, it will cause back pain.  My office chair has lumbar support and a butt cushion.  Most school desks I have seen have hard resin chairs with no padding. How can anyone be expected to sit quietly and calmly on that?

That is one of the many reasons that varied physical activity is important for keeping your kids healthy and free of back pain.  This doesn’t mean three hours of soccer practice every night year-round.  Variety in sports is important.  The kids that do best and have the least pain and injuries are the ones that don’t get so focused on one sport.  If your child is happy to settle for the B team because they are enjoying a variety of sports, be happy for them.  Be proud that they are making a decision that will cause them less pain and injury in the future.

Chiropractic care has been shown over and over to be effective and safe for kids.  If your child is struggling with back pain give a chiropractor a call.  We are honored and excited if you choose us for your family’s chiropractic care.

If you have any questions, please give us a call at 918-940-4630 and schedule your initial visit with Dr. Travis Ring with Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic.  We are located conveniently off the Broken Arrow Expressway at 61st and Aspen across from the world’s largest QT (that may be an exaggeration but that place is huge!!)  Thank you in advance for allowing us to care for your child.

The post Why does my child have back pain? first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

The most common reason the pain or numbness or even tingling will be shooting down your leg from your back is that you are having a disc problem in your lower back that is irritating your lumbar nerves or sciatic nerve bundle. Disc problems such as, disc bulges, inflamed discs due to injury, disc herniations, disc extrusions are all very painful. The good news is that research shows that after twelve months, patient outcomes are basically statistically the same whether the patient has conservative care such as chiropractic manipulative therapy (chiropractic adjustments) or surgery. The bad news is that regardless of what option you pick for yourself, it can take a long time to heal. If you have a disc problem, it as usually a long time coming. Typically you would have weak muscles and inflexibility for a long time that went without stretching or strengthening and also poor movement patterns in your spine involving your vertebrae that placed extra stress on joints that weren’t designed to take it.

You can also have tight muscles that compress or entrap nerves. This can happen with your piriformis, hip flexors such as your psoas muscle, and even your hamstrings. As muscles start to bunch up and the muscle fibers adhere together forming scar tissue it then starts to wrap up the nerve fibers and create additional compression on your nerves. A good chiropractor should be able to adequately diagnose and often correct what is pinching on your nerve and causing you pain.

If you are having an episode of this, get an ice pack out of the freezer and call us. We will be able to diagnose your problem correctly. Do not heat your injury because it will get even more inflamed. Please remember when you visit your chiropractor to have realistic expectations. Any back problem that is extending into your leg, is not going to go away overnight. You will need regular and frequent care to feel better for the long term but chiropractic has a tremendous success rate for conditions like this.  If you have any questions or would like to schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss your situation, please give us a call at 918-940-4630.  If you found this information helpful, please help us spread the word and pass this along to someone in need.

The post Why is Pain Shooting Down My Leg From My Back? first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.