We hear very often from our friend, family, or co-worker that someone is having a sciatica pain. It is a condition that has high incidence. It makes us wonder what sciatica pain is. What cause it? How acupuncture treat sciatica pain? Let’s check it out one by one.
1. What is Sciatica?
The definition of Sciatica is the sciatic nerve is compressed and causes the pain radiating down the back or side of the leg. It is usually caused by the compression at nerve root at different levels in the spine or inflammation in the sciatic nerve itself.
Symptoms associated with sciatica are low back pain, numbness or tingling down the leg as far as the foot, and weakness of the affected areas.
The sciatic nerve originates in the low back at spinal nerve levels from L4 to S3. It goes through the pelvis, then down to the knee, where it branches out into the tibial and peroneal nerves. The tibial nerve travels through the posterior lower leg, and the peroneal nerve travels down the lateral part of the lower leg. This nerve pathway explains why people can experience numbness and tingling all the way down the leg when they have sciatica.
2. What causes Sciatica?
Number one cause: Lumbar disc problems – degeneration, herniation. The intervertebral discs are the cushion between to the vertebra to absorb the impact from sports or daily life. The discs lose its elasticity as we are aging or bulge to a certain direction to cause the nerve compression. If it happens to sciatic nerve, then it will end up sciatica. Long hour sitting, bad posture or lift up something heavy suddenly will cause this.
Second: Spinal stenosis: Our vertebras form the pathways for the spinal cord to travel through and come out of the spine to nourish and control our body. The pathways get narrow by osteoarthritis which is caused by wear and tear on the bone and its’ joints. People usually feel better after they exercise or walk around for a while. There are other things will cause spinal stenosis like, vertebra misalignment, tumor, spinal injuries.
Tight muscles (Piriformis Syndrome & Pseudo-Sciatica): Muscles that surround the sciatic nerve can press on it when they are tight. Usually the piriformis muscle and gluteus minimus are involved.
The piriformis muscle is located right above the sciatic nerve in most people. If that muscle gets tight or inflamed it can press on the sciatic nerve and cause pain, tingling, and numbness down the back of the leg. This condition is known as piriformis syndrome.
The glute minimus muscle is the deepest of the gluteal muscles and is located on the outer hip. When that muscle forms a trigger point, it can cause a referral pattern down the side of the leg which Dr. Travell calls “pseudo-sciatica.”
Those are the main reasons that cause sciatica. After talking about all those then we finally get to talk about:
3. How Acupuncture Can Help Sciatica
Acupuncture treatment for sciatica is known to use the needles to stimulate the points on our meridian system which is a energy network to accelerate energy and blood circulation to balance our organ’s function and nourish our body. It is also scientifically approved can regulate the nervous system and releasing neurotransmitters to reduce pain.
One systematic review of acupuncture for sciatica found that acupuncture improved sciatica symptoms better than non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) treatment. Acupuncture also helps enhance the effects of medications that may be prescribed for sciatica so it can help reduce the dosage and mitigate the side effects.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4631886/
