“Once you start approaching your body with curiosity rather than with fear, everything shifts’- Dr. Bessel van der Kolk in the famous book The Body Keeps the Score.
If you’re experiencing unknown body aches and pains, then you might be wondering what’s going on with your body. In this article, we talk about sciatica, a type of pain that runs from your sciatic nerve through your legs and lower back. We talk about the different signs of sciatica. We also talk about how a chiropractor can help with this type of body pain and aches.
What is sciatica?
Sciatica is a type of pain that emerges from the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the most major nerve in the body and is made up of 5 nerves. These 5 nerves run through your lower body.
Sciatica happens when the nerve experiences an inflammation or when it becomes irritated. It may also happen if the nerve becomes compressed. Sciatica usually happens on one side of your body. When you have sciatica, it’s normal to experience a lot of pain in that area of your body.
Signs of sciatica
Besides the pain associated with sciatica, here are some other signs of this body ache.
- Having difficulty with your bladder and issue with controlling your bowel movements
- Feeling loss of sensitivity in your feet, butt, legs and lower back
- Pain when you move or difficulties with moving
- Pain in your legs, butt and lower back
Treating sciatica can involve invasive procedures like a surgery. Other times, it can involve pain medication or even just “riding the pain out” so that no treatment is needed. Keep in mind that while a lot of people suggest that sciatica tends to go away after a few weeks, the pain may, nevertheless, be unbearable. It’s also important to know what to do if the pain does come back in the future.
3 ways to relieve sciatica with a chiropractor
If you’re struggling with sciatica, here are 3 ways a chiropractor can help you. These three benefits that we’ve selected are just three of the primary benefits of chiropractic care. There are many more benefits to visiting a chiropractor for your sciatic nerve pain.
1. Chiropractic care involves less invasive procedures.
Rather than turning to surgery to deal with the pain, a chiropractor would use chiropractic technique to help you manage sciatica. These methods are often less invasive than a surgery. For example, a chiropractor may use chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, spinal decompression, and even exercises. All of these methods use natural methods. All of these methods are also based in a holistic view of medicine that emphasizes alternative therapies and modalities.
2. Chiropractic care means that you don’t have to deal with the side effects of medication
If you’re struggling with sciatica, then you’ve probably have had to use pain medication. Pain medication may have the benefit of not being invasive since you don’t have to have a surgery. Nevertheless, pain medication has its downsides in that there are side effects from that medication. Sometimes this may be feeling sedated. This can mean feeling drowsiness or feeling lethargic. Another side effect may be headaches. So, while pain medication may help you manage sciatic nerve pain, it can cause a host of other issues. In most cases, a chiropractor will not use pain medication to help you with sciatica. Instead, they will often use alternative therapies.
3. Chiropractic care means learning techniques that you can use on your own
A chiropractor would not only have in-house solutions. They would also have techniques that you can use on your own. For example,if you visit a chiropractor, they would be able to help you identify the causes of your sciatica. In some cases, some sciatic nerve pain stems from sitting too much. If this is the case, they then would help you incorporate lifestyle changes like learning how to sit better (posture) or completely altering the amount of time that you sit (learning to stand and move more). You would also learn exercises that you can use on your own. Learning techniques that you can use on your own will be very beneficial in the long run in case you experience this type of pain again.
Grant Chiropractic–natural and holistic medicine in the state of Utah
If you’re not sure of whether you should see a chiropractor for your sciatic nerve pain, consider giving us a call. At Grant Chiropractic, we would help you:
- Identify the cause of your sciatic nerve pain
- Find chiropractic modalities that would be suitable for you
- Learn exercises that you can use at home
- Recommend some lifestyle changes that would help with this issue.
At Grant Chiropractic, we believe that health is important. How you treat body pains and aches is also important. Give us a call in Kaysville, UT at 801-682-4003 for more information on how we can help you.
