Sciatica & Leg Pain

Along with pain there may be burning, pins, and needles, tingling, prickling, crawling sensations or tenderness. Ironically, the leg may also feel numb! To complicate matters, although sciatica pain is usually in the back of the legs or thighs, in some people it can be in the front or side of the legs or even in the hips. For some, the pain is in both legs: bilateral sciatica! 

Like a Knife 

The quality of the pain may vary.  There may be constant throbbing but then it may let up for hours or even days, it may ache or be knife-like.  Sometimes postural changes, like lying down or changing positions, affect the pain and sometimes they don’t.  In severe cases, sciatica can cause a loss of reflexes or even a wasting of calf muscles.  For sciatica sufferers, a good nights sleep may be a thing of the past.  Simple things like walking, bending, turning, sitting or standing up can be difficult or impossible. 

Causes of Sciatica 

Like most other conditions, sciatica has a wide variety of causes.  An unhealthy spine with a protruded or ruptured disc which can irritate the sciatic nerve is one cause.  Sciatica has been reported following accidents, injuries and even childbirth, usually due to spinal misalignment.  However, advanced diabetes can also cause sciatic nerve irritation, as can arthritis, constipation, tumors, and even vitamin deficiencies. 

The medical approach 

The medical approach to sciatica is usually to treat its symptoms with painkillers, muscle relaxers, and orthopedic devices such as traction and physical therapy.  Sciatica is particularly frustrating to treat with drugs because in many cases even strong painkillers bring little or no relief.  However relief may be obtained by injecting painkillers directly into the nerve roots!  As with all painkillers there is always a risk of drug dependency.   

The Chiropractic Approach

Many sciatica suffers have experienced dramatic relief after chiropractic care. Many sufferers of sciatica and leg pain have found that chiropractic was superior to traction and pain injections, often saving them from spinal surgery. In one controlled study four different approaches were used to deal with low back pain and sciatica. The group that had spinal care experienced the greatest degrees of recovery. Interestingly, a large number in the traction group eventually required surgery. In another study 20 patients /aged 20-65 with low back-related leg pain were divided into three groups that were given medical care, chiropractic care or steroid injections. After 12 weeks the medical and steroid injection groups showed no advantage over the safer non-drug improvements the chiropractic patients experienced.  Chiropractic care appears to have the most effect on sciatica when used first. Unfortunately many people seek medical care first.  Even so excellent results may be obtained with subsequent chiropractic care.  In another study, 3136 people with lower back and sciatica pain who had previously had physiotherapy and drugs with no positive results were given chiropractic care. A follow-up two years later showed that 50.4% had execellent results with no painful relapses, 34.4% had relapses but the responded favorably after further chiropractic care and 15.2% showed no significant improvement.