Sciatica: An Alternative Treatment To Help Alleviate This Condition

What is Sciatica?

Sciatica is a common lower back condition that causes pain and discomfort for millions of people worldwide. Triggered by irritation to the sciatic nerve, sciatica can range from mild to completely debilitating pain in the lower back, buttocks, and legs. For some individuals, this condition will resolve itself with time and rest. However, if sciatica continues to worsen over time, it could indicate a more serious issue in the upper cervical spine. 

Signs and Symptoms of Sciatica

Patients who suffer from sciatica will often complain of a burning, shooting pain deep in their buttocks and in the lower back. Other symptoms of sciatica may include radiating pain in the legs or feet, numb extremities, difficulty walking, tingling in the limbs or buttocks, and pain when seated for long periods of time. 

This condition can be triggered by any number of things, but frequently comes about due to a bulging/misaligned disc or vertebral misalignments in the spinal column — often these kinds of injuries occur due to incorrectly lifting heavy objects or other impact injuries through sporting.

How the Upper Cervical Spine Affects Sciatica

The upper cervical spine is surrounded by an extensive network of nerves, some of which lead into and communicate with the sciatic nerve. While we may not immediately notice a minor misalignment in the upper cervical spine, these kinds of injuries often manifest in conditions like sciatica.

If misaligned vertebrae compress or pinch these nerves, it can lead to a cascade of nerve flow disruptions and misfires around the sciatic nerve, potentially triggering a range of sciatica symptoms. 

How Our Upper Cervical Treatment Works for Sciatica

Dr. Gordon Elder is an expert in chiropractic treatment known as the Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Technique. Blair's chiropractic treatment focuses on restoring function to the upper cervical spine and re-engaging the body’s natural healing mechanisms.

When it comes to sciatica, Dr. Elder employs a two-step approach for locating and healing misalignments. First, Dr. Elder will attend a 25–30-minute screening appointment ⁠to determine whether a vertebral misalignment is causing the patient’s sciatica. Advanced 3-D imaging diagnostic techniques will likely be used to pinpoint the exact location of any misalignments in the upper cervical spine. Following this, you’ll receive a brief report on the findings of the screening process. Of course, during this time you’ll have an opportunity to ask Dr. Elder any questions about your spinal health. 

Next, Dr. Elder will perform a series of gentle, low-force adjustments to reposition any misaligned vertebrae and alleviate the build-up of pressure around the sciatic nerve. Following the first adjustment, patients are encouraged to return for regular appointments for at least 3 months to ensure their adjustments are set. Over the course of 3 to 5 months, most patients average between 10 to 15 appointments with Dr. Elder.  

If sciatica is preventing you from enjoying your everyday life, get in touch to speak with Dr. Elder about Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care. Located in Lubbock, Texas, Blair Chiropractic Clinic also services Amarillo, Midland, Odessa, Abilene, El Paso in Texas, and Hobbs in New Mexico. 

Published by Vic Belonogoff: A Blair Chiropractic doctor helped heal vertigo, among other conditions that Vic Belonogoff suffered from, and it gave him his life back. He continues to see an upper cervical chiropractor as a preventative measure. Vic Belonogoff is passionate about upper cervical chiropractic and how much it helps patients.

Sciatica & Upper Cervical Chiropractic

In this video Dr. Elder talks about what sciatic pain is and isn’t. He then discusses different treatment options and why it makes sense to try less invasive methods first.

A lot of people who get pain in the leg are told, or think that it is sciatica. The sciatic nerve is a large nerve that runs down the back of the leg. When it comes out from the spine, it comes from from several different parts and they merge and come apart and merge again. Then there are nerves about the size of the thumb that are running down through your buttocks down the side of the leg like a line. If you have a pain that is broad (about the size of your hand) running down the back of your leg, that is not sciatica; it can be a pinched nerve of some kind, but not sciatica. 

If it is like a line of fire going down your leg and it is really bad, and goes down the back of your leg and the bottom of your leg, down to the heel and then shoot out the toe, that is what sciatica feels like (or so I’ve been told). 

That nerve can be pinched in a couple of different places. It can be pinched because of a muscle that is too tight in the buttocks, it can be where the nerves come out from the spine because the spinal pieces are not lined up properly or somehow smashing and swelling and causing problems on the roots of the nerves themselves. 

What I’ve noticed is probably about fifty-percent of my practice is made up of people with low back pain and a high percentage of those have sciatica.

When I adjust their neck, the sciatica goes away.

Now, there have been a few where it has not gone away, but we send them to another chiropractor or therapist to help get the last percentage away. It will go down a little bit with me, their moving better, their other symptoms go away, but the problem is so progressed that they need more than just closing the barn door so to speak. So we send them to someone else, they get the rest of it, and it gets fixed. 

In some cases, people do need low back surgery, but please do not rush to that. There is a diagnosis code on the books for failed low-back surgery syndrome because it happens so often. So that should not be the first choice. First choice, look at your posture, look at your nervous system, and get those fixed.  If you get to the point where you have to go around in a wheelchair, then you might think about surgery.