Sciatica Treatment in West Omaha

Sciatica is a potentially debilitating condition that causes moderate to severe back pain and lower leg pain. It can make walking and performing your daily tasks extremely difficult. Thankfully, our sciatica doctor in West Omaha can diagnose the exact causes of your sciatic nerve pain and recommend the appropriate course of treatment to reduce your symptoms and heal the underlying injuries.

Understanding Sciatica and Sciatic Nerve Pain

When we talk about sciatica, we are not talking about a definitive diagnosis. Instead, the common medical term is used in reference to your symptoms. When a chiropractor, sciatica doctor or other medical professional tells you that you have sciatic nerve pain, they are actually saying that you have a compression of your sciatic nerve or the sciatic nerve is inflamed and pressing against other soft tissues and bones, and the compression or inflammation could be anywhere along the sciatic nerve.  The latter is important because the sciatic nerve starts in the lower back and extends into the feet after branching in the buttocks and traveling down each leg. This makes the sciatic nerve one of the longest nerves in the human body.

Symptoms of Sciatic Nerve Pain

The compression of the sciatic nerve primarily causes lower back and leg pain. However, it can also cause muscle weakness in the legs and loss of range of motion in the back. Most people experience worsening systems after sitting or standing for long periods of time.

Causes of Sciatic Nerve Pain

Most people develop sciatic nerve pain as the result of a herniated disc. However, sciatic nerve pain can also be caused by spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, piriformis syndrome and traumatic injuries, like falls at work and car accidents. Since sciatic nerve pain can be caused by a variety of different injuries and conditions, a complete diagnosis has to be made before an effective treatment plan can be developed.

The Risk Factors for Sciatica

When it comes to sciatica, there are a few risk factors that could make it more likely for someone to develop this condition. The biggest risk factors include:

• Obesity: Those who are overweight or obese are at a higher risk of developing sciatic nerve pain. This is because the added weight around the torso could compress the sciatic nerve, leading to back pain.
• Occupation: Any job that involves heavy lifting increases the chances of someone developing sciatica. This is because heavy lifting could lead to issues with the vertebrae and spinal discs, which might compress the sciatic nerve.
• Poor Posture: Finally, those who have poor posture while sitting could develop sciatica. A hunched back could irritate this nerve, leading to pain.

Activities to Relieve Sciatica

If you are looking for sciatic pain relief, there are a few activities that you can use to help you treat back pain. Some of them include:

• Posture Changes with Exercise: While back pain and exercise might not sound like they go together, it is important for you to release the tension that is present in your back. Exercising with appropriate posture, meaning a straight back, can help you treat sciatica effectively.
• Walking: Even walking around the block a few times could alleviate some of the inflammation in the back that might lead to nerve pain. In this manner, walking can help you treat sciatica without creating any side effects of complications.
• Sleeping Adjustments: If you are having trouble sleeping, changing your position could help you find pain relief. A trained chiropractor can work with you on your sleep position and could help you with simple adjustments that might help. For example, if your sciatica extends into your legs, a pillow between the legs might help

Sciatic Nerve Pain Treatment with our Chiropractor in West Omaha

Our chiropractor in West Omaha can perform an examination and take digital x-rays to determine what is causing your sciatic nerve pain. Once a diagnosis has been made, our chiropractor will develop a three-pronged approach to help alleviate your symptoms, heal the injury and provide you with care to lower your risk of future injuries.

Spinal Adjustments

Spinal adjustments help realign slightly misaligned vertebrae in order to relieve the pressure on your sciatic nerve. This treatment can help with herniated discs, spondylolisthesis and spinal stenosis.

Intersegmental Traction

Intersegmental traction is a therapy that involves the use of a special chiropractic table. The table is adjusted according to your needs in order to mobilize the spinal column. During the treatment, two rollers continuously roll along the sides of the spinal column. This helps loosen tight muscles and ligaments that may be causing the spine to compress, contributing to herniated discs and back pain. This treatment is effective at healing sciatic nerve pain that is caused by a traumatic back injury and herniated discs.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is extremely effective at alleviating lower back pain that is caused by soft tissue injuries or muscle tightness. This treatment involves stimulating specific points along the spine with a microcurrent or non-piercing Teishin needle to help facilitate the release of endorphins and increase circulation to the area.

Corrective Exercises

Many individuals with sciatic nerve pain often benefit from targeted corrective exercises as well as stretches. There are specific exercises that can help lower sciatic nerve pain when it flares, and exercises and stretches that can help strengthen weak back muscles.

Lifestyle Advice

When you have a back injury, the last thing you want to do is make the pain worse or re-injure the area while you are healing. Our lifestyle advice is designed to help you find safer ways to perform everyday tasks so that you do not aggravate your injury or re-injure your back while you are healing.

Nutritional Counseling

Your body needs the right types of macro and micro-nutrients in order to repair damaged tissues within the body. Our nutritional counseling service can help you improve the health of your diet so that your body has the right minerals and vitamins to heal your back injury.

Maintenance Care

Once the causes of your sciatic nerve pain have healed, our chiropractic doctor can provide you with ongoing maintenance care so that you can improve your overall health and help prevent future injuries or flare-ups of your sciatic nerve pain. Maintenance treatments can include any treatment that we offer in our Omaha office, but most often involves performing periodic spinal adjustments, intersegmental traction, and acupuncture.

The Benefits of Using a Chiropractor for Sciatica Pain Relief

If you are looking for a chiropractor who can provide sciatica treatment in West Omaha, look no further than Kosak Chiropractic and Acupuncture. Some of the benefits of seeing a chiropractor for help with the treatment of sciatica include:

• A chiropractor has an intricate understanding of the back and sciatic nerve, meaning that he or she can use adjustments and manipulations as an effective form of treatment
• Because a chiropractor does not use any prescription medications or surgical procedures, he or she can help you recover from sciatic nerve pain without causing any side effects or complications
• A chiropractor will work to identify the root cause of the concern, helping to not only treat the nerve pain but prevent it from coming back in the future

These are a few of the many benefits of working with a chiropractor who knows how to treat sciatica.

Call Kosak Chiropractic and Acupuncture Today to Make an Appointment

At Kosak Chiropractic and Acupuncture, we are leading chiropractic, acupuncture, and wellness practice that is located in the beautiful area of West Omaha, NE. We are proud to be led by Dr. Kevin Kosak. If you suffer from sciatica, you know that this can lead to serious issues. Sciatica is one of the most common causes of lower back pain. The good news is that sciatica treatment in West Omaha is available from Kosak Chiropractic. If you would like to make an appointment call us today at  (402) 964-0300 to schedule an appointment!