Sciatica Treatment: A Newport Beach, CA Chiropractor’s Perspective

One of the leading causes of sciatica we see in Newport Beach is bulged lumbar discs. When the spine is not in its proper position, it puts more pressure on one side of the disc than the other. The pressure can force the disc fibers to tear or the nucleus pulposus, the gel-like substance in the middle of the disc, to break through the outer layer.

Discs are made up of crisscross fibers that go from one vertebra to the other. They’re movable and are hydrated through the movement of the spine. You will often hear us say, “movement is life and lack of movement is lack of life”. It’s essential for the body to have movement to keep these discs hydrated. That’s one of the reasons why our sedentary lifestyle and constant sitting are such a huge problem for sciatica. Without movement, the discs begin to dehydrate, and the weight of gravity pushes any fluid they might have out of the disc, making them brittle and weak.

Picture a spinal disc as a sponge. When it’s wet, it’s soft and supple. It can move, bend, and twist. When that sponge dries out over time, you leave it on the counter for the day and go about your business, it becomes hard and brittle. If you try to bend it, it will crack. If you put water back on it, it’ll soften up and be pliable, making it much more effective at its job. Chiropractic adjustments help keep discs hydrated, supple, and effective.

A disc herniation is one step past a bulge. A disc herniates when the nucleus breaks out of the disc’s outer layer. Herniations can be excruciating and debilitating, causing radiating pain, muscle spasms, numbness & tingling, and even muscle weakness.

Degenerative disc disease is another form of arthritis. Over time, your spine will lose its proper position through accumulative bad habits like poor posture or injury. A spine that is not in its proper position will wear down at an accelerated rate. It’s no different than the tires on your car. When they’re out of alignment, the tire wears down much faster. If there’s more weight on one side of your spine than the other, you’re adding uneven pressure with each step you take. This will weigh down one side of the disc, dehydrate it, and cause the body to produce bone spurs, instigating the arthritic process.

Obesity exacerbates degenerative disc disease. Not only does carrying extra belly fat put more pressure on the lower back, but the extra weight will also push down on the disc, squeezing fluid out of it. A sedentary lifestyle also accelerates degeneration. Movement is critical to the spine as it helps hydrate the discs. The more a disc degenerates, the more the spine’s movement decreases, which is a vicious negative feedback loop. This is one of the reasons we see accelerated degenerative disc disease in older people. As they age, movement does not become a priority, or it becomes more difficult. That keeps them from participating in physical activity. As the discs shrink, they get closer to one another, leaving very little space for movement. Eventually, the bones fuse together.

A shrinking disc also means less space for the nerve. Increased pressure on the nerve will cause more dysfunction throughout the body and a lower level of overall health. Over the years, we have seen significant health gains when our patients consistently receive chiropractic care.

We’ve been able to increase their disc space and relieve pressure on the nerves, improving the overall function of their body and its systems.

Spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal. If you’re suffering from degenerative disc disease, the body will deposit calcium inside the spinal canal to try and strengthen the bones. These calcium deposits are bone spurs that only further close off the spinal canal. This pressure on the spinal cord interferes with information traveling from the brain to the body and back to the brain.

The same that happens on the inside of the spine can happen on the outside. Off of the spinal cord come spinal nerves. They exit the spinal column through a hole known as the foramen. The body will produce calcium deposits to try to fortify a weak system. That calcium can block the foramen, putting pressure on the nerves and interfering with information traveling from the brain to the body and back to the brain.

If you have spinal stenosis, you may find that you can’t sit or stand for long periods because the nerves are irritated. Stenosis can cause pain, weakness, and numbness. It can even affect organs like the bladder or bowel, causing an overactive bladder, constipation, or diarrhea

You can strain a muscle in many different ways. Repetitive motion, quick and sudden movements, sports, household chores, or an activity you are not used to doing. A muscle strain will irritate the muscles and tear them, causing a dull, achy pain. This pain is usually aggravated by movement, especially in the low back. An acute muscle strain may happen during a workout, a household chore, or a repetitive task that you have been doing for years.

One of the primary reasons for sciatica muscle strain is poor posture. If you spend all day sitting hunched over a computer or if you sleep on your stomach, you’re just asking for a muscle strain. Ignoring the strength of your core muscles will also predispose you to muscle strain. The core muscles – abs, obliques, lower back, and glutes – need to be balanced. When they’re not functioning in symmetry together, it will cause muscle strain.

Muscle strain usually resolves itself if left alone. Rest and ice are two ways to deal with a strain, but you typically want to address it immediately to ensure that it doesn’t develop into something worse. When you have muscle strain, it weakens those muscles, causing instability in the spine and nerve interference.

We often think we know what’s happening in our body, but a muscle strain can indicate many other things. It could be organ or nerve-related, so you want to make sure that you get to the bottom of it and fix it early so that it doesn’t develop into something more severe.

15% to 30% of sciatica pain is caused by sacroiliac joint dysfunction. The sacroiliac joint connects the hip bones to the sacrum to hold up and support the body. It also acts as a shock absorber between the upper and lower parts of the body. The SI joint is involved in everyday activities like walking, sitting, and standing. When there’s a misalignment of the sacroiliac, it puts strain on the ligaments and can cause a lot of discomfort. It can also cause leg length discrepancy and repeated stress on the hip, knee, ankle, and foot joints.

If you’re involved in sports or moving a lot throughout the day, you can stretch those ligaments and cause hypermobility – moving the joints beyond their normal range of motion, causing back pain. If you’re sedentary, you can develop hypomobility of the joints, limiting your ability to walk, bend, and twist.

SI joint dysfunction is also common among pregnant women. During the seventh month of pregnancy, the body releases a hormone called relaxin, which is supposed to relax the pelvic ligaments to create space for the baby to come out. When these ligaments stretch, they don’t function properly. This is why chiropractic adjustments are great to help women through the dynamic changes they go through in the last couple months of pregnancy.