I have been treating a young man in my office for sciatica.  He came into my office limping–unable to step down onto his right leg.  Walking hurt, sitting hurt, and moving from one side to another while lying down sent pain shocks down into his leg making it spasm.  The only relieving position for the poor guy was lying flat on his back and being still.

Nothing can stop you dead in your tracks faster than sciatica.  Sciatica is an infalmmation of the sciatic nerve–the large, thick nerve running down the back of the leg.  The sciatic nerve innervates (controls) the legs from the buttocks to the thighs to the calf and foot.  When it gets inflamed, it causes an excruciating pain down the leg and makes any type of movement unbearable.  Basically, people suffering from sciatica need to sit or lie down.  The unfortunate thing is that even sitting can be unbearable with sciatica.

Sciatic pain is often described as “hot burning water being poured down the back of my leg.”  It is sharp and electrical in nature.  Sciatica originates either at the lumbar spine through a herniated disk pushing up against the nerve root, or at the buttock where the piriformis muscle sits right on top of the nerve.

I’ve been treating my sciatic patient with chiropractic adjustments, ice, myofascial release and light stretching.  he’s getting better slowly but surely.  In one week, we’ve got him able to step down on his right leg and bear some weight.  He can sit for short periods and he’s been able to sleep a little bit.  We’ll keep working on him, and hopefully, he’ll be back on track within the next few weeks.