SEPTEMBER 2019
Your News l et ter to Greater Hea l th
UNDERSTAND SCIATICA MAKING MOVES TO
Who gets Sciatica? According to the British Medical Journal, sciatica is most prevalent in people who are 45-64 years old. Additional risk factors include smoking, being overweight, and holding a job that requires you to perform heavy labor or drive a vehicle. High levels of cognitive stress have also been shown to increase the likelihood of experiencing sciatica. What’s wrong with me? Sciatica is a term used to describe a set of symptoms that often includes pain and/or numbness/tingling radiating down the leg. The source of such symptoms is often a mechanical or chemical irritation to a lumbar nerve root or to the sciatic nerve as it runs through the back of the hip and down the leg. The most common source of sciatica is believed to be disc herniations. How long will it take? Overall, the prognosis for someone with sciatica is generally good. In one study, 50% of patients taking a placebo drug showed improvement after just 10 days. With that being said, a substantial proportion (up to 30%) of those people following a natural course of recovery report still experiencing pain one year later. This highlights the importance of receiving a proper diagnosis and treatment from the beginning.
What can I do for it? For most people recovering from sciatica, you want to stay active and avoid bed rest. Extended bed rest has been shown to contribute to longer recoveries and worse outcomes. Try to stay active and do what you can without aggravating your symptoms. It is also VERY IMPORTANT that you don’t try to stretch your sciatic nerve or hamstrings until you’ve been fully assessed. Stretching can really aggravate symptoms in some people. What can you do for it? At MechanoTherapy you can expect a thorough assessment to identify the mechanical source of your symptoms. We have treated sciatica with success using both extension (backbending) or flexion (forward bending) based movement programs, hip strengthening, and manual techniques (nerve flossing, joint mobilization, soft tissue work). The course of treatment will depend on the patient presentation.
Call our professionals today at (503) 567-5771 and ask about our physical therapy options. Your mobility is important, and your back can be healed.
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