Hello this is Kenji from Life Force Chiropractic!

In today’s blog I would like to focus on a quite common but also painful symptom known as sciatica. Its probably something everyone has heard of but not something they really looked into. So today I would like to talk about the symptoms and some stretches that give some relief as well as prevent sciatica from happening in the first place.

Firstly, what exactly is sciatica? Sciatica is when the sciatic nerve is irritated or even pinched. This can occur in a number of ways this ranges from spinal compression, herniated discs and overgrowth of bone. The sciatic nerves starts from the from the Lumbar 4,5 and Sacral 1,2 and 3 and runs down all the way down the leg and ends at the bottom of the feet.

The symptoms of sciatica vary from individual but most of the time the most common symptoms are a shooting pain down the leg, or/with pain, numbness and weakness in the glutes, lower back and legs (both front and back).These symptoms can also be accompanied with tingling sensation in the affected areas.

The diagnosis for sciatica should be done by MRI to assess whether a herniated disc maybe the underlying symptom.

Here at Life Force Chiropractic, we use a decompression technique for both herniated discs and those suffering from sciatica. This is by finding the affected area and stretching out the spine and opening up the affected disc area via a push pull method.

However, if you need some relief at home there are some stretches that I recommend that will help ease the symptoms, these can be found online very easily but I have listed the names of the stretches that are often recommended.

Scissor Hamstring Stretch Seated Hamstring Stretch Wall Hamstring

Above are recommended for individuals where they are not as flexible as others. But if you are little more flexible listed below are stretches that might to do the trick!

Knees to chest (done while lying down while facing up)

Gluteal Strech (done while lying down while facing up)

The best way to avoid sciatica is to do daily lower back stretches and avoid doing sudden strenuous activities that involve the lower back without proper warm up. If you sit for a long time it is recommended to set aside time to stretch out your body to avoid spinal compression and bad posture. It is also thought of prudent to strengthen your core muscles so that your lower back is supported by a strong core.

If you have any questions regarding treatment for sciatica please don’t hesitate in asking our staff!