Sciatica is a condition that ranges in seriousness from mild to severe. If you experience it, you’ll likely be experiencing lower back pain that can extend to your hips and legs that will either be moderate or cause you to be unable to function. If you suffer from sciatica, you’ll want to relieve that pain as soon as possible. Here’s what you need to know about sciatica and how a chiropractor can help. 

What Is Sciatica?

Sciatica refers to pain that results from your sciatic nerve being pinched. Your sciatic nerve covers a large portion of your body which makes it more vulnerable to irritation and injury than other nerves. It branches from your lower back through your hips and buttocks all the way down into your legs. As such, pain can radiate from any of those areas. 

Sciatica can either be a mild pain or a debilitating pain that makes it impossible to move, depending on severity. 

What Causes Sciatica?

Sciatica is a result of your sciatic nerve being pinched. This can happen in a number of ways, ranging from a herniated spinal disk to a bone spur on your vertebrae to compression from a tumor or disease. 

There are some factors which can increase your chances of sciatica. They include:

• Age

As we get older, our spines can change, which can lead to herniated disks and bone spurs.

• Obesity

Obesity puts more stress on your spine than a healthy weight does, which can lead to problems causing sciatica.

• Diabetes

Since diabetes affects the blood sugar in your body, this results in an increased risk of nerve damage. 

• Prolonged sitting

Sitting puts a lot of stress on the spine, especially if you have poor posture. This can lead to damage over time. 

• Occupation

People who work in fields that require frequent twisting of the spine or frequent lifting of heavy objects are also at higher risk of developing sciatica due to the strain put on their spines. 

Symptoms

Sciatica can be identified by the pain in your lower back down to your butt and leg. It typically only affects one side of the body and can range from an ache throughout the sciatic nerve pathway to unbearable pain that can have a burning or electric shock sensation. It can also include tingling and numbness in your leg, as well as weakness and loss of bowel or bladder function. 

Treatments

The treatment options for sciatica vary based on severity. Treatments can range anywhere from simple self-care to surgery. Surgery is generally only used in the cases where other treatment options didn’t work and where your pain continues to worsen. Generally, physical therapies and stretching and rest can help relieve the pain, especially in more mild cases.

How Chiropractors Can Help

Chiropractors are experts when it comes to your spine, so they are a great first stop when it comes to sciatica treatment. Many doctors will refer their patients to chiropractors for this pain because of this. Chiropractors can pinpoint the area the pain originates from, as well as work to relieve it.

Chiropractors will generally consult a physical examination and ask about your history in order to get a better understanding of the cause of your condition. With this information, they can then create a treatment plan that is personalized to you.

Chiropractic treatments generally involve massage, spinal manipulation, exercises, and stretches. These are designed to relieve the pressure on your sciatic nerve, which then will resolve the issue. It typically isn’t something that can be healed in one session, so if you suffer from sciatica, you can probably anticipate going to the chiropractor a few times in order to find relief. 

Can Sciatica Be Prevented?

The best treatment for sciatica is prevention. A strong, limber back is less likely to be injured, so there are some lifestyle changes you can make in order to reduce your risk of this condition. These include: regular exercise, proper posture, and being aware of how your body works and how you are using it. If you sit a lot, don’t hunch, and if you lift objects, keep them close to your body. 

These little changes can go a long way in helping you stay strong and healthy and pain-free.

Do You Need Help With Sciatica? 

Elite Chiropractic knows how painful sciatica can be and how useful chiropractors can be for healing it. If you suffer from sciatica, we can help through our spinal manipulation techniques and other chiropractic treatments. If you would like to learn more or if you would like to set up an appointment, please feel free to contact us at Elite Chiropractic today!

Back pain is one of the most common chiropractic problems, with the majority of people experiencing it at some point in their lives. Back pain is the third most common reason behind doctor visits in the United States. In today’s digital world, where people are sitting and looking at screens for the majority of their day, either through their job and through digital entertainment, that can increase the risk for developing back pain. Sitting so often can be a significant cause of back pain, as it places more pressure on your spine.

Luckily, back pain is easily preventable. You can have an office job that requires sitting through your day, and still take steps to decrease your risk of developing back pain. This starts with addressing the most common culprit of back pain for people who sit the majority of their days.

Posture 

How you sit plays a huge role in your risk of back pain. Poor posture affects your spine, especially if you consistently have it. If you frequently slouch, lean forward, and have your elbows spread too far out from your body, this creates more pressure on your back that sitting in and of itself already does. If you are usually looking down at your phone, holding it to your ear with your shoulder, and not moving, these also contribute. Your head is heavy – if it’s consistently out of line with your spine, this can be hard on your back. 

It is difficult to break habits, but especially for something as important as our posture, it is vital to take the necessary steps to improve your posture. When sitting, your head should be lined up with your shoulders, your back straight against the back of your chair, your elbows in closer to your body, and your feet flat against the floor. Merely by adjusting your posture, you can reduce your risk of back pain.

Listen To Your Body

Humans aren’t sedentary creatures. We’re meant to be able to move, which can make jobs that require so much sitting taxing. Listen to your body. Get up and move around every half hour or so. This doesn’t mean you have to do jumping jacks in the office, but just even standing up, going to get a drink or a snack, or taking a little lap around the office can help your body and relieve some of that pressure sitting puts on your spine. 

Be More Active

Inactivity like what office jobs create can increase your risk for back pain, especially if you have poor posture. As the previous point mentions, people are meant to be able to move around. This means that a more active lifestyle can be a good preventative measure against back pain, both in that a more active lifestyle means a stronger body that is harder to hurt and in how it can help you maintain a healthy weight, which reduces the stress placed on your spine.

A stronger back means a lower risk of back pain. Stretching and strengthening exercises can assist with this. Swimming, walking, and other aerobic exercises also work to strengthen your  body, while exercises like yoga and pilates can help with your balance and stability. It’s generally recommended that the average adult gets 150 minutes of aerobic exercise in a week.

Eat Healthy

Having a healthy diet also helps protect your back. It is good both for keeping a healthy weight and for getting enough calcium and vitamin D. As mentioned above, a healthy weight means less strain on your back. Calcium and vitamin D strengthen your bones, which makes it easier for them to support you and harder to break. Simply by improving your eating habits, you can reduce your risk.

How To Fix Back Pain

If you suffer from back pain and want to know how to fix it, there are several options available to you. Treatment starts with finding the root cause of your pain and then figuring out how to fix it. Chiropractic treatment is among the best for back pain. A chiropractor can make adjustments and perform physical therapies, like spinal decompression therapy, which can help you. They can also guide you through exercises and stretches you can do in order to both heal current pain and prevent more in the future.

Are You Suffering From Back Pain?

Here at Elite Chiropractic, we know how important your back is to your overall comfort and health. We offer specialized treatment to get to the root cause of your pain and help you get back to feeling steady and capable. If you suffer from back pain, we have several treatment options available. If you would like to schedule an appointment or if you have any questions, please contact us at Elite Chiropractic today!

Circulation issues, cellular damage, and other musculoskeletal problems plague anyone from athletes to people who are just getting older. Without treatment, these problems can escalate and impact your quality of life. Luckily, there are a multitude of treatment options available to you, amongst which is vibration therapy.

What Is Vibration Therapy?

Vibration therapy is a form of physical therapy that relies on vibrations. It originated in 1867, when Russian physician Gustav Zander discovered that the vibration from a device he made helped to heal circulatory issues in the body. Since then, vibration has been found to have many therapeutic benefits, from relieving constipation, to increasing bone density, to improved circulation, leading to vibration therapy becoming common practice. 

How Does It Work?

Vibration therapy utilizes rapid-fire vibrations to force your muscles to contract and release. This stimulates blood flow and circulation and tissue growth. Targeted vibrations also provide pain relief by disrupting pain signals. Vibration therapy enhances your body’s natural ability to heal itself and is non-invasive. 

What Does Vibration Therapy Look Like?

When you schedule an appointment for vibration therapy, you’ll either receive localized treatment for problem areas or treatment for your whole body. Vibration therapy uses machines called vibration plates in order to create vibrations. Your physical therapist will have you either sit, stand, or lay on it, depending on what you’re trying to treat. The machine will then vibrate, forcing your muscles to contract. Vibration therapy appointments usually don’t take too long, making it a time-efficient treatment method. 

Vibration therapy can be combined with other treatment options like other forms of physical therapy or massage therapy for the best results, but it is also effective on its own for certain issues.

What Is It Good For?

Because vibration therapy forces your muscles to contract, it relieves tense muscles. The increased blood flow promotes natural healing, with how the vibrations can target specific damaged areas of the body and assist your natural healing process by guiding the blood there. The vibrations can relieve pain of compressed nerves, and both ease the pain of and boost the healing in injured tissues, muscles, ligaments, and discs. 

Vibration therapy also offers many other benefits. It can alleviate stress with how the vibrations make you feel like you’re exerting yourself, ergo reducing your cortisol – or stress hormone – levels, same as if you were working out, as well as boost your metabolism. It can increase your range of motion, due to bringing down inflammation and relieving tense muscles. It can improve your strength through promoting healing in your muscles. 

Are There Any Risks?

Generally, vibration therapy is a very safe method of treatment. Same as anything else though, there are some risks associated with it. The primary risk of vibration therapy is the vibration level being set too high for the patient, which can result in back pain and potential injury. With a professional physical therapist, though, you likely won’t need to worry about that. You may also want to first consult with your physical therapist if you are pregnant, have heart disease, are on blood thinners, or have any other conditions that you think vibration therapy may aggravate.

How Do I Know If Vibration Therapy Is Right For Me?

You may consider vibration therapy if you suffer from chronic pain, inflammation, tissue damage, or muscle tension. In addition to these, vibration therapy has been found to be helpful for a number of other health issues, such as:

• Parkinson’s disease
• Cerebral palsy
• Fibromyalgia
• Lymphatic drainage
• Arthritis 
• Cystic fibrosis
• And more.

If you’re considering vibration therapy, talk to a professional! They will be able to advise you on whether it is an option for you or if you should consider another method of treatment.

Do You Have Questions About Vibration Therapy?

Here at Elite Chiropractic, we offer vibration plate therapy, along with a multitude of other chiropractic treatment options. When you work with us, we’ll find the right method to help whatever issues you’re suffering from. For any questions about our services or to schedule an appointment, please contact us at Elite Chiropractic today!