A nyone who has ever experienced severe sciatica never forgets the excruciating pain, for sciatica, at its worst, ranks among the worst of human sufferings.

BIG NERVE-BIG JOB
The sciatic nerve, as big around as a forefinger in some places, is the body's largest nerve and its longest. Beginning in the lower spine, it serves the entire length of both the left and right legs, running through the buttocks and the back of the thighs before splitting above each knee into two branches, which then run side-by-side down each leg into the foot. It's a big nerve with  important  jobs.

PAINFUL IF PINCHED
As a major link in  the nerve- circuitry between the brain and the legs and  feet, this magnificent nerve usually serves its owner faithfully for a lifetime. But the sciatic nerve can be very vulnerable if certain vertebras should become misaligned and pinch or irritate spinal nerves related to the sciatic nerve. This pinching effect usually leads to sciatic pain, which in some cases can be incredibly harsh and tenacious.

PINCHED NERVE COMMON
A herniated spinal disc (so-called "slipped" disc) can also touch off sciatic pain, and there are other instances, yet a pinched spinal nerve caught between two misaligned vertebras is the most common cause of sciatic pain by far.

PAIN MAY FLARE UP SUDDENLY
Often the pain of sciatica starts off as nothing more than a mild, low back pain that comes and goes causing little concern. When the pain comes back, however, it tends to get worse each time it returns.

But sciatica does not always begin with mild pain. Sometimes just a misstep, a wrong turning movement, lifting the wrong way, even just bending over to retrieve a piece of paper can bring on an agonizing sciatica assault without warning.

Following  is a typical worst-case scenario:

SEVERE SCIATICA

• Sharp, shooting, sometimes ripping pain, along all or part of  the sciatic nerve in the low back, buttock, hip, thigh, leg, foot.
• Numbness and tingly feeling or cold, clammy feelings-sometimes mixed with pain anywhere along the course of the nerve.
• In the acute stage the pain is usually constant, but may ease off or go away entirely for a time.
• Cold weather may intensify pain.
• Sometimes there is swelling and tenderness of the buttock, leg, foot.

GET CHIROPRACTIC HELP EARLY
While sciatica can be extremely painful and debilitating if allowed to go untreated, many a difficult and bitterly severe case could have been avoided or minimized if the vietim had heeded mild pain signals early on, and had found chiropractic help before the condition got worse. Doesn't that reasoning apply to most health problems?


Copyright © 2010 Health Star, Inc