What is Sciatica?

What is Sciatica? People often come into our Burnaby Wellness Centre and want a ‘sciatica cure’ in the form of ‘stretches for sciatica’ although they don’t know whether they have sciatica. Some people even think they have to have surgery for sciatica. Practice members often have low back pain that radiates into the buttock area as sciatic pain.

True Sciatica is described as pain that radiates from low back pain, into the buttocks area and continues down into the lower leg. Sciatica can be very painful. In fact, the most common cause of sciatica is when the vertebrae in your lower back area become misaligned and create direct pressure on the nerve roots that feed into the sciatic nerve. This condition is known as a vertebral subluxation. These subluxations can be caused by any one of these stressors: physical, chemical or emotional.

Let me explain how this pain starts and how to avoid surgery for sciatica. The Sciatic Nerve is actually comprised of several nerves that come together in the lower lumbar area to form one bigger nerve that goes under the piriformis muscle located in the middle of the buttocks. If that muscle is strained or inflamed, it can put pressure on the sciatic nerve causing significant pain know as Sciatica. As an example, sciatica during pregnancy is very common as the body becomes physically stressed due to the natural weight gain of the woman in later term.

Exercises and stretching for sciatic are very important, however the most effective way to address this condition and get relief from sciatica is through Chiropractic Care. A Chiropractor who is an expert in sciatic pain and correcting vertebral subluxations can help relieve Sciatica. Even though people want an easy answer to the question ‘how do I cure sciatica,’ the most effective way to get relief from sciatic pain is to take the pressure off the nerve.

There are many exercises for Sciatica such as; stretches for sciatica, yoga for sciatica, and even icing the piriformis muscle directly may help elevate the pain. Again, the most effective tool is getting pressure off the sciatic nerve by making sure your vertebrae is moving properly. If you are in the Burnaby/Vancouver area, please visit www.burnabywellness.com, we would love to be of service to anyone suffering from sciatic pain. There are many great doctors of Chiropractic all over the world who have been trained in the detection and correction of the vertebral subluxation waiting to help you.