How Many Treatments for Sciatica With a Chiropractor Will I Have?

Chiropractic Treatments for Sciatica

Sciatic nerve pain varies from person to person, as well as in the intensity of pain, so it can be difficult to treat. It’s like trying to treat a moving target that radiates and moves in both frequency and location.

Chiropractic therapy for sciatica is based on a patient’s symptoms, age, and originating injury. Chiropractors will also look at what treatments a patient has had, their medical history, and more ancillary criteria.

Some sciatica treatments include spinal adjustments, manipulations, ice/cold therapies, and other targeted treatments. It always depends on giving the patient the treatment modality best for them. Also, the chiropractor will include practical and logistical information for their patients, like how best to lie down and how best to sit.

That’s because the pressure from your vertebrae can push the disk with the fluid inside out from its natural resting place. Once the disk is out and can hit the nerve that’s causing sciatica to flare up.

How Does a Chiropractor Help With Sciatica?

Chiropractors know how to work with muscles that have thousands of small fibers. These small fibers create small strand-like strings. When there’s a pain issue, it can be from a knot of muscles interacting with trigger points.

It’s the trigger points that pinch the sciatica nerve. If there’s one thing chiropractic doctors study, learn, perform, and have expertise determining it’s finding trigger points. Once they find the trigger points, they apply deep pressure that squeezes the muscle fibers and causes them to relax.

Chiropractors are well-trained and effective in dealing with sciatica pain. A study by the American College of Physicians cites Chiropractors as one of the best first lines of defenses for lower back and sciatica pain.

Are Many Chiropractic Treatments for Sciatica Needed to Feel Better?

Every person who experiences sciatica pain is different. Because everyone’s pain is different, there’s no definitive number of treatments the same patient to patient. That’s why diagnostic tests are the first step a chiropractor will take to determine what is causing the sciatica pain.

Some tests include, but aren’t limited to:

• X-Ray
• CT scan
• MRI
• EMG and Nerve conduction velocity (NCV)

Chiropractors also take into account the patient’s medical history. They combine past medical history with any injuries resulting from auto accidents or work injuries. That’s when physical or neurological examinations are scheduled and reviewed.

The rule of thumb is for acute sciatica pain, maybe six to twelve sessions are needed over two to four weeks before you start feeling better. However, it’s possible that some sciatica pain lasts longer than twelve weeks, or a patient can reach a plateau in their recovery.

Sciatica Pain Is From a Car Accident or Work Injury

There’s no difference in the level of care for a patient who has sciatica from a car accident or work injury. Chiropractors are very beneficial in helping patients with any sciatic pain injury because of their acute pain.

Much of chiropractic medicine relies on a patient also helping themselves once the chiropractor can help them manage their pain.

If a patient that was injured in a car accident or work injury, they will often work with a Chiropractor to help decrease their inflammation. Inflammation often slows the body’s healing process. That’s when a chiropractor can help a patient by explaining what diets and anti-inflammatory foods they can be eating that are helpful.

If your chiropractic physician approves, sometimes patients begin stretching exercises and yoga.

Chiropractor Treatment Modalities

Many Chiropractors use the TENS device, which stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation devices. The TENS will send a very slight electric current to relax your muscle spasms. By relaxing your muscles, you help reduce your pain and increase your endorphins.

There is also low-level laser therapy. Low-level laser therapy is often called cold laser therapy. This has been used for over forty years effectively to reduce inflammation and promote healing.

But every patient is different, just like every car accident or workers comp injury is different. That’s why it’s important to bring your medical record, your accident, or injury reports. Your chiropractic physician can then diagnose and treat the root cause of your sciatica pain.

Your Recovery Process

Your chiropractic treatments for sciatica recovery process depending on you actively participating in your chiropractic treatment.

If you’re not sure what to do because you’ve tried everything, your family doctor suggested it may be time to think outside the box.

If you have pain because of a work-related injury or auto accident, it’s past time you get the help you deserve by making an appointment with a chiropractor near you.

Now that you know you can have relief from a chiropractor in as little as four to six weeks from sciatica pain, you can be on your way to feeling you best soon. You also don’t have to be in excruciating pain to visit a chiropractor.

Some people build in chiropractic treatments and adjustments into their physical well-being regimen. There’s no telling just how well you’ll feel or what you’ll be able to do once again, and that has unlimited value and worth.

Call 1-800-897-8440 today to find an experienced chiropractor near you to help you ease your sciatic pain.

Don’t let one more day go by without finding a treatment program that works best for you. After all, you have the rest of your life to live, so start today and begin living it!