Sciatica Case Study Essay

Do you sometimes get mysterious pain in one of your legs, your lower back, or your hips? Do you chalk it up to old age or humid weather? Well, it turns out there may be another reason for your discomfort—a condition called sciatica. In order to provide the public with more information about sciatica, Comfort Family Chiropractic of Lincoln, NE offers some analysis and advice.

Sciatic nerve pain is frequently seen as a a tingling sensation, sharp pain or numbness down the lower limb or even in one region on the leg, often only on the one hand. It is additionally ordinarily a pain that is certainly quite hard to eliminate as it's a result of sciatica, which can be attributable to a variety of things. However sciatica pain is usually crippling.

Sciatica is continual pain along the sciatic nerve (American Chiropractic Association, 2015). Sciatica has been discovered in 1 to 10 percent of the United States of America’s population. Mostly in people around the ages of 25 to 45 years (Atkins et al. 2015). The sciatic nerve is the thickest and longest nerve in the human body, running from the fourth lumbar vertebrae to the second sacral vertebrae. As the sciatic nerve makes its way toward the popliteal fossa, it divides into the tibial and fibular nerves, this explains why patients suffering from sciatica have reported that the pain is prominent in their lower back, through the buttock, and into the lower leg. The semimembranosus, semitendinosus

Sciatica typically occurs in the lower back and extremities. The most common cause is from a lumbar herniated discs pressuring the scatiac nerve, which causes pain and inflammation. In addition to this, pinched nerves and back injuries also result in sciatica. Since sciatica is a symptom of a larger health problem, chiropractic practitioners carefully diagnose through standard medical diagnostic imaging, such as CTs and MRIs. One of the benefits of using chiropracticare to treat sciatica is that surgery can be avoided. Keep in mind that microdiscectomy spine surgery is the most common treatment method for umbar herniated

(3) spondylolishesis is the lumbar slippage of the vertebra between L4-L5 and L5 and S1 which causes the compression of the spinal nerves 4) degenerative joint disease related to aging is also responsible for the cause of sciatica, there is a malformation involvement in the spine and dehydration resulting to disc herniation and severe inflammation in the vertebral bodies causing the compression and irritation of the spinal nerve roots 4) degenerative joint disease related to aging is also responsible for the cause of sciatica . Sciatica evolves between the age of forty to sixty years old and commonly occurs more in male as compared to female (Fuller & Goodman, 2015). Also, genetic cause also plays a significant role in etiology aside from infection, the vast amount of load of the vertebral column causing the protuberance of the disc(Fuller & Goodman, 2015). Moreover, malignancy or arthritic spine within the vertebra or trauma implicates the cause of sciatic nerve irritation or compression (Fuller & Goodman,

Search strategies for this review will be established to access both published and unpublished materials. Firstly, a search of the literatures will be conducted using numerous online databases. Similarly, a range of research methods that assist in finding appropriate journal articles will be utilised. These include consideration about which topics that most define chronic low back pain management and different interventions used for management of this condition. Further, to ensure whether the study is appropriate and relevant to the research question, both an inclusion and exclusion criteria will be considered. Thus, articles will be included if they meet the following principles: published between 2002 and 2016, articles related to nursing and health professionals, and written in the English language and Peer-reviewed articles as well.

This gentleman was seen for a followup in regards to his low back. He reports no real improvement in his back pain and states he is frustrated with his persistent symptoms. He apparently was seen by Dr. Felt, the rheumatologist, a couple of weeks ago. He was started on a low dose of prednisone but states this has not helped with his pain. His chief complaint is of central low back pain but he also gets some pain radiating into the right thigh. He duplicated his exercise program for me today, but actually only showed me a couple of exercises that he had been prescribed and the other ones were just general calisthenics. He currently is working in the computer shop and states sitting on a hard chair is very uncomfortable for him so he changes positions often. He has a lumbar support but is not wearing that today. He does not feel as if it is really been beneficial. He did use some Biofreeze in the past which gave him some temporary relief of symptoms. There is muscle rub on the canteen list that he can purchase on his own if he would like to continue using that. The patient had a goal of losing 3 pounds but unfortunately, has gained several pounds since his last appointment here.

According to several studies, it has been seen that chiropractic care can be successful in treating sciatica and symptoms related to sciatica, particularly when compared to other methods such as physical therapy or corticosteroid injections.

There is pain with lumbar flexion and extension. There is no aberrant behavior. The patient feels that he can perform increased activities of daily living with his current medications.

He still does have significant amount of residual back pain. Also, he does get still intermittent pain and numbness in the legs, left side worse than the right side. He also gets bilateral knee pain. He continues to have some bladder incontinence episode urgency. He does feel depressed as well. Treatments to date include anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy, epidural injection performed in May 2015, spinal surgery in 2011, L4-L5 laminotomy with good improvement, and left L5-S1 laminotomy on 4/20/16 with improvement postoperative. Physical examination revealed that the patient has been able to discontinue the use of cane. There is pain to palpation over the L5-S1 area. Range of motion is limited. The patient has flexion of 60% of normal and extension of 40% of normal. Motor strength is 5-/5 in the left lower extremity, especially in the gastrocsoleus and extensor hallucis longus. Sensation is slightly diminished in the L5 distribution bilaterally, left worse than the right. Deep tendon reflexes is 2+ at the bilateral knee and 1 + at the bilateral ankle. Plan notes physical therapy of 2 x/ week to strengthen muscles, stabilize the spine and reduce pain; Flector patch 1.3% to be applied one patch to the back every 12 hours as necessary for

After this latest episode of sciatica however, I knew I needed some expert advice. The thing I really liked about this chiropractor when I first met with him last year was that one of the first things he said to me was, "My goal is to get you well enough so you don't need to come see me anymore." Right on!

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the leading causes of disability and work absence globally, affecting not just the individual, but also extending to families, communities and society at large. Whilst the prevalence of LBP is high, with over 70 percent of people experiencing some LBP at some point during their lives, most will resolve within a few months (Campbell et al, 2013). Problems arise when pain persists beyond the expected period of healing or when it exceeds 12 weeks in duration. An estimated 40 percent of people who present with acute LBP continue to report symptoms after 3 months and

Muscles play a crucial part in the normal functioning of the lower back and sciatic nerve. If any of the muscles in this area become too tight or too weak, they have the potential to cause pain. This is typically referred to as muscle imbalance. The hamstring muscles are a common culprit for this and it is usually tightness which is the problem.

Anecdotally we know that relieving pressure on the discs via traction, non-surgical spinal decompression or inversion tables etc relieves the pain, we also know that continued activity opposed to inactivity is beneficial and everyone knows that stabilizing the spine and allowing strained muscles to relax and heal are critical to the healing process.

Low back pain is a prevalent condition in which people seek medical care. Even after receiving medial treatment, a large number of people will continue to experience back pain 3 months later.1 After experiencing low back pain for 3 months, the condition is then referred to as chronic. Chronic conditions can lead to problems at work, depression, anxiety, and reduced quality of life. Physical therapists are providers that are commonly sought for their services to help treat chronic low back pain. The way physical therapists interact and develop a therapeutic alliance with patients has been a topic of studies. There have also been studies that research how a positive therapeutic alliance can have an effect on treatment outcomes with patients with chronic low back pain.