Sciatica HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[abra yoshina]

dear razzor

not sure if youve found help yet but there is a fantastic osteopath in burnley his name is mark ratcliffe and he has his on practise and can be found in the yellow pages. he is a member of the osteopath reg so he is a safe bet..
he will give you good advice
hope it helps
karen

 

[Q.B]

Have anyone try 'IDD Therapy'? it seems to have great results.

 

[Drew]

Dear Dino,
there are several possible causes of sciatica and presumably your osteopath made a diagnosis before giving you these exercises.
Whilst I'm glad they've done the trick for you, I would have to advise against them for others, as the most common cause of sciatica (see above) could be made worse by doing them. Sciatica is a symptom not a diagnosis - essentially it tells us that there is pain in the back of the thigh, but then any sufferer would already know that - it doesn't tell us the cause.
Unfortunately one size doesn't fit all for this one.

Andrew.

 

[Chihiro00]

Andrew, I find, frustratingly, that so many practiioners give different advice all insisting they are right[&:]I appreciate the training and expertise of Oestopaths and Chiroprators, however, having been to both, and quite a few of them, and had experience of friends and family also having treatment through them, I find they all gave different advice, and what I would personally advise anyone to do who is suffering from Sciatica or any condition where you are treated by either of the above, to go with whoever makes you feel better! In my case, it was the advice I have given above, which by the way, was also used by other people I passed this onto, and it worked for them very well.What works for one often doe snot work for another so it is wise toseek out someone you trust who eases the painand makes youbetter, and that is precisely what I have done.

Dino

 

[NateDaGreat]

I agree to say that herniated disc and sciatica account for the majority of back pain problems. First of all, people suffering from it need to recognize it and acknowledge it. And the way to recognize and acknowledge it is to have an MRI done and see a specialist doctor, like neurosurgeon or orthopaedic. The symptoms are pretty obvious, pain radiating into the leg. Limit in mobility, pain while sitting, walking. Leg raise is limitted....

Here is a good illustration of most common spine-disc problems:
[link=http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article2621.html]http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article2621.html[/link]

Now, if you have bulging disc, or herniated disc, with or without sciatica, I don't think that seeing a chiro or osteopaths could be any help. Whatever manipulation, it's not going to reduce the herniation, in some case, it could make it go worse.

[link=http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article2681.html]http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article2681.html[/link]

The reason is the chiro-osteopath can do whatever they can, they can not create a decompression, a negative pressure inside the disc to suck the herniation back in and seal off the annulus fibrosis. Sciatica is the result of a herniated disc that presses on the nerve root, causing irritation and inflammation spreading out to the leg. The cause is a bio-mechanical compression.
If you really hope to have serious treatmentfrom an chiropractor or osteopath, think again.

[link=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,172-2097779,00.html]http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,172-2097779,00.html[/link]

I have nothing against chiropractors or osteopaths, but I dislike the fact that so many people badly informed, turn to them as first choice hoping for real help and losing valuable time and moneywhen they could have been getting an MRI done sooner and see a specialists doctorand getappropriate advice on treatment options. If you are in pain in more than 6 months then you better get an MRI done as soon as possible to identify and recognize what problems you have and look for some real treatments.

You can easily scroll through tons of posts in the forum to see so many people having been 'treated' by chiropractor and osteopaths and still have pain.

So far, exercises can help to stay active. Gentle stretching is good. Swimming does help.

 

[MikeFloody]

Great reply well observed and agreed upon
Dino

 

[?gl4597]

You might want to view the article below.

http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/sciatica-treatment-chiro-3103.html

Whilst treatment results vary for all therapies and medication including surgery I understand that Chiropractic and Osteopathy are extremely safe and amongst the most effective treatments for sciatica (the original issue raised in this thread). Having postural x-rays (standing) advocated by Chiropractors often shows biomechanical dysfunction that prone (lying down) x-rays and sometimes MRI don't show. Waiting lists for an MRI can be up to 6 months in my experience. Gentle stretching just might not provide the quality of life someone wishes, hence a recommendation for advice and possible treatment from a qualified Chiropractor or Osteopath. Another aspect of spinal care to consider is the preventative advice from Chiro/Osteo to prevent further disc pressure in the entire spine through lifestyle modification.

Spinal manipulation receives a lot of dubious press at the minute which should perhaps be investigated rather than simply accepted...we all know of the continual oppression of natural therapy from certain quarters. It's interesting that it is brought up on such a natural health forum. Perhaps there should be more debate within the forum on such issues??? However, I don't think that this would help to resolve issues raised by members.

My wife is currently training as a Chiropractor and I can testify as to the depth of knowledge and training required to qualify being as being immense.

http://www.aecc.ac.uk/college/course_information/index.asp

Your quote of 'tons of postings' seems a little misleading to others if you don't mind me saying.

 

[Doc]

Looking at

[link=http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/sciatica-treatment-chiro-3103.html]http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/sciatica-treatment-chiro-3103.html[/link]
[ul][*]Ice/Cold therapy[*]Ultrasound[*]TENS[/ul]
are part of any normal Physiotherapy treatment, they are aimed to relax the muscle, avoid muscle spasms and relieve the pain, at least for a while. They are not specialties of chiropractic, spinal manipulation is. Spinal manipulation may help for sure if there is misalignment ofvertebral bodies. But most of sciatica condition results from herniated disc and compression on the nerve, in which case, I don't see how spinal manipulation can really help. On the contrary, it can make it even worse:

[link=http://www.chirowatch.com/]http://www.chirowatch.com/[/link]

Me, I wouldn't let anyone crack my back when I'm already in pain.