Since almost half of the world’s adult population has experienced a headache at one point in their lives, we tend to think it isn’t a big deal. We pop a painkiller, take a nap, massage our temples and keep moving. But here’s the thing—you don’t have to live like that.
The sciatic nerve functions to provide sensation to the entire lower region of the body, including your thighs and legs and extending to the soles of your feet. If for any reason this nerve becomes irritated or inflamed, the pain that is caused is known as sciatica. Sciatica references the numerous symptoms that are directly associated with the irritation of the sciatic nerve but does not indicate the source.
Sciatic Symptoms
The most common symptom of sciatic nerve irritation is when the pain flows consistently along the pathway of the nerve, especially when it’s persistent on only one side of the body. There are considerable ways in which the symptoms can be experienced. Patients may experience a tingling sensation as well as aching or burning. It is possible that a patient suffering from sciatica will feel like they are being poked with pins and needles in their lower extremities, accompanied by weakness in the leg or foot of the affected nerve.
What to do about it?
A chiropractic approach would focus on finding the root cause of the problem. It could have started with subluxations in your spine, vertebrae being out of alignment and compressing on the nerves because of a fall, a car accident, an injury, repetitive strains, bad posture or stress. Finding out all this information about your history is extremely important for the chiropractor to build up the whole picture. With time your body is going to have to compensate for these misalignments, work harder and this is going to cause more subluxations. Chiropractic and spinal correction will help to get your spine straight and aligned, eliminate or minimize spinal issues, restoring normal movement and function, subsequently reducing the irritation and inflammation.