Sciatica is an almost ubiquitous condition. Across the United States, more than 3 million visits per year to the emergency department are because of back pain. When the pain in your low back begins to radiate through the hip and buttock down the back of the leg to the calf, it is affecting your sciatic nerve.
Your sciatic nerve is the largest in your body. It starts in the lower back, formed from nerves branching off of the spinal cord, then travels through the pelvis, buttock and down each leg. There can be many things that cause sciatica, and there are several things that might aggravate the condition, such as:
- Sitting
- Standing
- Sneezing or coughing
- Walking
Since your sciatic nerve and all nerves in your body, for that matter, originate from the spine, looking at the spine for a solution to the problem only makes sense.
To learn more about the connection between head and neck injuries and lower back pain and sciatica download our complimentary e-book
How Is My Neck Connected to My Sciatica?
The vertebrae of your spine not only give you the stability that allows us to be upright and go about our day to day activities, but they also provide a tough layer of protection for the spinal cord. The job of the spinal cord, and all of the nerves branching off of it, is to send signals to and from the brain. When the topmost vertebra in your neck, the atlas, misaligns it can distort those signals.
This can lead to imbalances in your posture, muscle spasms, and pain. These imbalances can cause unequal tension on one side of your body, causing compensations throughout your shoulders and hips. One leg might draw up shorter than the other because of that, ultimately leading to low back pain and sciatica.
At Mountain State Wellness, we want to get to the root cause of your low back pain and sciatica, not just chase around the symptoms. We use the NUCCA technique to address atlas misalignments that may be contributing to your condition. This is a gentle, specific type of upper cervical chiropractic that realigns the atlas so that the imbalances throughout your spine can return to normal. Proper atlas alignment is key in order to have good brain-body communication and optimal healing potential.
To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Lucas Watterson or Dr. Amy Watterson call our Morgantown office at 304-244-1817 You can also click the button below.
if you are outside of the local area you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.
