Disk & Low Back Pain
Chiropractic Treatment Approach of Low Back Pain
The purpose of chiropractic to help the body's potential to heal itself. It is based on the scientific principle that restricted spinal movement leads to pain and reduced function and performance. Chiropractic care is non-invasive (non-surgical) and drug-free. The type of chiropractic therapy provided depends on the cause of the patient's sciatica. A sciatica treatment plan may include several different treatments such as ice/cold therapies, ultrasound, TENS, and spinal adjustments - sometimes called manipulation.
1. Ice / Cold Therapy reduces inflammation and helps to control sciatic pain.
2. Ultrasound heat created by sound waves that penetrates deep into tissues. Ultrasound increases circulation and helps to reduce muscle spasms, cramping, swelling, stiffness, and pain.
3. TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) is a small box-like, battery-powered, portable muscle stimulating machine. Variable intensities of electrical current control acute pain and reduce muscle spasms. Larger versions of the home-use TENS units are used by chiropractors, physical therapists and other rehab professionals.
4. Adjustments (Spinal Manipulation) At the core of chiropractic care are spinal adjustments. Manipulation frees restricted movement of the spine and helps to restore misaligned vertebral bodies to their proper position in the spinal column. Spinal adjustment helps to reduce nerve irritability responsible for causing inflammation, muscle spasm, pain, and other symptoms related to sciatica. Adjustments should not be painful. Spinal manipulation is proven to be safe and effective.
In college and during their training, students of chiropractic learn many different adjustment techniques enabling them to treat several types of subluxations and disorders. Techniques vary from a swift high velocity thrust to those that combine minimal force and gentle pressure. Mastery of each technique is an art that requires great skill and precision. Spinal manipulation is the treatment that differentiates chiropractic care from other medical disciplines.
To prepare a patient for adjustment, the chiropractor may instruct the patient to sit up or lie down. It is not uncommon for the chiropractor to use a totally different adjustment technique during the patient's subsequent visit. Treatment tables differ too. Some are stationary, flat padded tables and others are elaborate with electrically or manually operated head and foot rests.
Chiropractic's Limitations
Sciatica can be caused by other disorders beyond the scope of chiropractic practice. If the Doctor of Chiropractic determines the patient's disorder requires treatment by another type of doctor, then the patient is referred to another specialty. In some cases, the referring chiropractor may continue to treat the patient and co-manage the patient's care with the specialist.
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Causes & Symptoms of Low Back Pain
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Leg Numbness Caused by Nerve Compression and Sciatica:
Leg or foot pain is usually caused by a condition in the lower back. Compression or pressure on any of the nerve roots in the low back can cause pain, numbness or weakness along the different nerves of the leg that travel down to the foot. Many times this condition is referred to as sciatica.
Leg Pain and Numbness: What these symptoms might mean
Quite often leg pain or foot pain does not mean that there is a problem with the leg, but rather that there is a problem in the low back, causing pain and possibly other symptoms to radiate, or be referred to, the leg or the foot.
Causes of Leg Pain and Foot Pain
More accurate anatomic diagnoses are made easier when patients document or catalog the characteristics of their leg pain, foot pain and other symptoms in clear descriptive terms. For example:
Position or path of the pain as it radiates down the leg
Body position when pain occurs
Sensation (e.g. aching, tingling, shooting, lancinating, burning pain)
Frequency (e.g. occasional, getting more frequent, constant)
Description of what makes the pain feel better or worse
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Leg Pain and Numbness: What Might These Symptoms Mean?
Quite often leg pain or foot pain is not caused by a problem in the leg or foot, but rather by a condition in the lower back. Diagnosis of leg pain and other lower extremity symptoms should focus not only on the legs and hips, but should also include examination of the low back. In fact, with many low back problems, there is actually little or no low back pain. Instead, there may be leg pain, foot pain, and/or lower extremity numbness or weakness.
Compression or pressure on any of the nerve roots in the low back can cause pain, numbness or weakness along the different nerves as they travel down through the leg and into the foot. Because the sciatic nerve is commonly affected, leg pain and related symptoms are often generally referred to as sciatica.
Leg pain symptoms and descriptions
Not all leg pain derived from low back problems presents the same way. Leg pain caused by a low back problem is often accompanied by additional symptoms, such as leg numbness or weakness, or foot pain, and the type of leg pain experienced may vary widely from patient to patient.
Some typical descriptions of leg pain and accompanying symptoms include:
Leg numbness or tingling. Anyone who has had a leg or foot efall asleepf and then gradually return to normal can imagine what numbness in a leg would feel like. Not being able to feel pressure, or hot or cold, is unnerving. Unlike the short-lived numbness of an asleep limb, numbness coming from a low back problem can be nearly continuous and can severely affect a personfs quality of life. For example, it can be difficult or almost impossible to walk or drive a car if onefs leg or foot is numb. Typical symptoms can range from a slight tingling sensation to complete numbness down the leg and into the foot.
Practical point
Many low back disorders can cause pain to radiate, or be referred to, the leg and/or foot, so an accurate diagnosis of leg pain or foot pain should include a low back examination.
Weakness or heaviness. Here, the predominant complaint is that leg weakness or heaviness interferes significantly with movement. People have described a feeling of having to drag their lower leg and foot or being unable to move their leg as quickly and easily as needed while walking or climbing stairs, for example, because of perceived weakness or slow reaction. Patients with foot drop are unable to walk on their heels, flex their ankle, or walk with the usual heel-toe pattern.
Burning pain. Some leg pain sufferers experience a searing pain that at times radiates from the low back or buttocks down the leg, while others complain of intermittent pain that shoots from the lower back down the leg and occasionally into the foot. Words that patients use to describe this type of burning leg pain include radiating, electric or shooting pain that literally feels like a jolt. Unlike many forms of low back pain that can often be a dull ache, for many, leg pain can be excruciating and nearly intolerable. This type of burning pain is fairly typical when a nerve root in the lower spine is irritated, and it is often referred to as sciatica.
Constant pain. This type of pain is normally felt in the buttock area, so it is not technically leg pain but it may accompany some form of pain felt in the legs. It may also be pain that occasionally radiates past the buttock into the leg. This type of pain is usually described as "nerve pain," versus an aching or throbbing pain. It is typically present only on one side, and is commonly called sciatica. It may often be relieved by stretching, walking or other gentle movement.
Positional leg pain. If leg pain dramatically worsens in intensity when sitting, standing or walking, this can indicate a problem with a specific part of the anatomy in the low back. Finding more comfortable positions is usually possible to alleviate the pain. For example, bending over may relieve pain from spinal stenosis while twisting (as in a golf swing) can increase facet joint related groin, hip and leg ache.
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