Addressing Sciatic Pain: Start Early for Best Results
Lower back pain is bad enough. Now imagine that pain radiating down through your buttocks and into your leg. Maybe your leg becomes numb. Maybe the pain is so bad that you can barely walk!
For people with sciatica, this nightmare scenario is a reality. Sciatica is a type of lumbar radiculopathy (i.e., nerve pain) resulting from damage or irritation to the sciatic nerve, which runs from your lower back down the back of your leg. It affects between 1% – 5% of the population.
Sciatica can be debilitating. In addition to intense pain, it severely limits your mobility — some people may struggle to get around at all. And because it results from nerve damage, it can also cause numbness, tingling, and other sensations in the leg.
The good news is that physical therapy at Elliott Physical Therapy is one of the best treatment options for addressing sciatic pain. Unlike pain medication, it doesn’t simply mask the symptoms — it seeks to resolve the underlying cause of your sciatic pain so that you have lasting relief.
Are you ready to say goodbye to sciatic pain for good? Call us to set up your initial evaluation today — and let us get to the root of your sciatica!
When Should I See a Physical Therapist About Sciatica?
As with most musculoskeletal pains, sooner is better! Many people try to ride out sciatic pain by taking pain medication and resting — which can actually be counterproductive and further worsen the underlying cause of your sciatica. By seeking out an early intervention, you can start feeling better faster.
You should also pay attention to changes in the severity of your pain or shifting sensations in your back and leg. Because sciatica is caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve, these changing symptoms can indicate something is happening to the nerve.
What are some of the specific symptoms of sciatica you should watch out for?
- Pain in the lower back, buttocks, and leg. (Sciatica usually only affects one leg at a time.) This pain might be dull, throbbing, aching, shooting, sharp, etc. Remember to pay attention to changes in sensation!
- Numbness or tingling in the back, buttocks, or leg
- Restricted range of motion in the back. You might struggle to twist, bend, or stand up straight.
- Walking with a limp
- Increased pain in the morning or after remaining in one position for an extended period
One symptom you absolutely shouldn’t ignore is any kind of incontinence when paired with sciatic pain. This indicates a serious medical emergency that may require surgical intervention — but our physical therapists will be here waiting to help you with rehabilitation!
Fortunately, such incidents are rare. In most cases, regular physical therapy is enough to resolve sciatic pain.
Don’t Let That Sciatic Pain Linger: Make Your Appointment Today!
Don’t let pain dictate your life. Take the first step towards reclaiming your mobility and well-being with our expert support. Start your journey to a healthier you today.
Physical Therapy: Frontline Treatment for Sciatica
One of the reasons physical therapy is so effective for sciatic pain is that it focuses on resolving the underlying cause. When you come in for your appointment, our therapists will perform a comprehensive evaluation to help us determine what might be irritating, pinching, or compressing your sciatica nerve.
We’ll ask you to share details about your symptoms, such as when they started and the exact sensations you’re experiencing (i.e., dull pain, shooting pain, numbness). We’ll also perform several movement screens that give us a complete picture of your situation. We might check the following:
- Overall mobility
- Muscle weakness and activity
- Nerve activity
- Posture
- Balance and gait
Once we understand what’s causing your sciatic pain, we’ll develop a customized treatment plan to address that cause. The most common cause of sciatica is a lumbar herniated disc.
Nestled between each vertebra in your spine is a vertebral disc, a soft cushion of cartilage that protects the vertebrae from rubbing against each other. If one of those discs becomes damaged — either because of a sudden injury or age-related degeneration — they can rupture or bulge, irritating the nearby sciatic nerve.
By addressing your herniated disc, you can resolve your sciatica. For most people, that means a targeted, progressive therapeutic exercise program paired with pain management techniques such as manual therapy.
HEALTHY RECIPE
Vegan Chicken Salad
Healthy Recipe for a Summer Lunch
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked or canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed and lightly mashed
- 8 ounces seitan (about 1/2 batch if using homemade), finely diced
- 1/2 cup slivered or sliced roasted almonds
- 1 cup diced celery (about 2 stalks)
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
- 1/4 cup chopped scallions (about 2 medium scallions)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 cup vegan mayo (or more if you’d like a creamier salad)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Place the chickpeas into a medium bowl and roughly mash them with a fork or potato masher.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir until fully mixed. Taste-test and adjust any seasonings to your liking.
- Chill or serve immediately.
Meet Our Team
Brian DeVellis
PT, DPT
Brian is a physical therapist at our North Attleboro location. His clinical experiences have focused on outpatient orthopedics, as well as outpatient neuro/vestibular.
During Brian’s education, he volunteered in Cusco, Peru. There, he worked with Spanish speaking mentally handicapped students at Don Jose de San Martin School. In his time there, he also volunteered at CooperarPerú, a nonprofit organization that provides support for children with low socioeconomic status.
Aside from his devotion for orthopedics, Brian has a special interest in concussion rehabilitation. He believes the science of concussion recovery is booming, and the path to recovery is more possible now than ever.
Find relief today; contact our clinic for an appointment
Don’t let pain dictate your life. Take the first step towards reclaiming your mobility and well-being with our expert support. Start your journey to a healthier you today.
Concussions in Fall Sports: How Physical Therapy Can Help.
What is a concussion?
Concussions are a type of brain injury caused by a force/hit or sudden acceleration and deceleration to the head, neck, or body. A major reason for the concerns with high school sports is that the forces transmitted to the brain can impair your physical and mental capacities for an extended period of time.
Concussions can cause a variety of unpleasant effects, including:
- Inability to focus.
- Fatigue.
- Dizziness.
- Memory loss and confusion.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Slurring of speech.
- Painful and chronic headaches/migraines.
- Sensitivity to light and sound.
- Ringing in the ears.
- Visual abnormalities.
Although concussions can be debilitating and restricting, physical therapy can help provide recovery and relaxation. You don’t have to figure out a recovery plan on your own.
How can an athlete benefit from PT for a concussion?
There are specific tests and treatments that your physical therapists can guide you through to get you safely back into practice and games.
1. Exercise Therapy
Researchers have demonstrated complete resolution of the symptoms associated with concussion through a graded exercise program alone. There are even some indications that exercise might help speed recovery in the early stages after a concussion!
2. Manual Therapy & Neck Rehab
When a person sustains a concussion, they most likely have also experienced whiplash. Research has shown that the acceleration required to cause a concussion is more than necessary to cause whiplash, so we know those with concussions also have traumatized the muscles and joints of the neck.
It can be difficult to figure out what symptoms are coming from the concussion and what is coming from whiplash as they are often exactly the same. Some commonly experienced symptoms of both conditions are as follows:
- Headaches
- Cognitive and emotional problems
- Balance problems
- Dizziness
- Eye movement control problems
3. Vestibular and Visual Rehab
Dizziness is one of the most common ongoing complaints of patients with persistent symptoms. This may be due to several overlapping issues such as problems with the balance centers of your brain, your visual system, and/or problems with your neck’s muscle and joint sensors.
Your physical therapist will assess each of the systems and how they may interact. Following a thorough assessment of these areas, a proper rehabilitation program can be set up.
