In today’s world, it’s important for you to know how to take care of your body. With the internet and sites like WebMD it’s very easy to start self diagnosing and self-treating. Unfortunately, many of us end up with the “worst case scenario” diagnosis and the wrong treatment. Sometimes self treatment can go horribly astray and unfortunately, over the counter solutions make that possibility easier and easier.

A very common condition that I see is called sciatica. Sciatica is a condition in which the body’s largest nerve, the sciatic nerve gets irritated. This irritation of this long and thick nerve is usually caused by a misalignment in the lower back, hips, or pelvis. Like snowflakes however, no two presentations of sciatica are the same. In that irritation, the nerve can produce a whole host of symptoms:

  • Numbness
  • Tingling
  • Burning
  • A deep, dull ache
  • Sharp, shooting pain
  • Electric, radiating pain
  • Sudden loss of strength

And what’s even more fun about sciatica is that the pain felt can be completely different for different people. The pain from sciatica can be felt anywhere from the lower back down all the way to the big toe.

Here are four different examples of sciatica that people came in with last week:

1. Female with burning, electric pain in her calf muscle and the outside of her foot

2. Male with a dull, ache pain in the right buttocks

3. Teenager who’s leg occasionally loses all of its strength when she walks; but she has no pain

4. Construction worker with pain radiating from the back of the leg to the knee

The list goes on and on. If it is a pain in the lower back or legs, it’s worth going to a Chiropractor to see if it’s sciatica or something else caused by spinal misalignment.

Now, let’s say that you are sure you have sciaticathere are some basic things you need to do for it:

1. DO NOT USE heat/heating pads/hot tubs/ or moist, hot towels in the area of pain. Heat will irritate the nerve even more, even if it feels good at the time. Heat makes any nerve pain travel further, faster, and for longer.

2. USE ice for 15 minutes on and 30 minutes off. Real ice is the best, followed by a bag of frozen peas/vegetables, and finally an ice pack. In terms of convenience, the ice pack is the best because it can be ace bandaged in place.

3. Stay out of furniture that does not give you good back support. Stay out of lazy boys and soft couches.

4. Do not stretch by leaning straight forward. The piriformis stretch will help to alleviate some of the pain. (A video of the stretch can be seen at http://www.expertvillage.com/video/4185_posture-piriformisstretch.htm)

5. If you are on your feet for long periods of time, put one of your feet up on something a few inches off the ground.

6. Wear shoes that give you support and have a back to them. Flip Flops are not good for sciatica and neither are high heels.

7. See a chiropractor and get adjusted. When the hips, pelvis, and lower back are in alignment, the sciatic nerve does not get irritated.

If you ever have any musculoskeletal pain, a good place to begin seeking help is your local chiropractor. Chiropractors are the only type of doctor trained in finding and removing misalignments in the spinal column and extremities. We have the ability to treat conditions from plantar fasciitis and tennis elbow to migraines and sciatica. If it’s a joint, odds are we can help it get better.