Sciatica Treatment from Your Tacoma Chiropractor

That shooting pain running down the back of your leg, numb sensation in your toes, or difficulty controlling your leg/foot muscles may be due to a common but potentially disabling problem known as sciatica. If you're having trouble working, sleeping, sitting comfortably or simply getting around the house safely, then you know you need help, preferably of the non-surgical variety. Here at Proctor Chiropractic, each Tacoma chiropractor on our three-practitioner team has the skills, tools and experience to help you overcome sciatica symptoms the natural way.

When Your Leg Problem Is Really a Spinal Problem

Sciatica is a syndrome, or set of related symptoms, triggered by impingement of the sciatic nerve. This massive nerve is responsible for conveying all the sensations and motor commands between the brain and the lower extremity it serves, branching out into smaller and smaller nerves throughout the buttock, leg, foot and toes. It also branches at the top, dividing into five major nerve roots threaded through spaces in the lumbar and sacral vertebrae to connect to the spinal cord.

Unfortunately, this arrangement makes it all too easy for a misalignment or other structural imbalance to press or pinch one of the sciatic nerve roots -- and just as pinching a garden hose cuts off the flow of water down the line, compression at this level of the sciatic nerve can interfere with signals in its various subsidiary nerves. As a result, you may experience sharp, shooting pain in the leg, tingling sensations in the leg or foot, difficulty moving and controlling your leg, and/or numbness in the foot and toes. Low back pain may also be present.

Your Chiropractor Can Help You Steer Clear of Sciatica

Sciatica can occur all of a sudden in association with an acute event (such as an auto or sports injury) that throws your spine out of alignment, especially if lumbar discs push out of their normal position and herniate onto the sciatic nerve roots. But chronic spinal ailments can also bring it on. For instance, age-related conditions such as bulging discs or spondylolisthesis can compress sciatic nerve tissue. Even chronic poor posture and untreated alignment problems can result in sciatica. All of these cases involve spinal structures that are out of position -- and your chiropractor at Proctor Chiropractic can address such issues without surgery or drugs. We may prescribe:

• Chiropractic adjustments to return vertebral joints to their proper alignment (and away from sciatic nerve tissue)
• Mechanical traction to re-position herniated or bulging discs
• Corrective exercises to rebuild atrophied leg muscles and stabilize your posture

Schedule an Appointment with Your Tacoma Chiropractor

If you're ready to enjoy freedom from pain and other sciatica symptoms, call Proctor Chiropractic at 253-756-7500 for an appointment so we can help you get back on good terms with your leg. New patients get a free initial chiropractic consultation, so don't put off the treatment you need for your sciatica!