Sciatica Series Part 1: Introduction

This is part 1 of the sciatica series that I'll be releasing over the coming weeks. This part one is going to briefly explain why I'm releasing the series. My clinic is where people with sciatica go for relief when they failed all other traditional options and refuse to have surgery. And while we've helped tackle several complicated cases of back pain and sciatica, I think the reason that so many people failed to find a solution is actually quite simple. It's because there are so many different root causes of sciatica that it's almost impossible to have an effective targeted approach without first undergoing a thorough full body examination. In this series, we're going to be diving into the various root causes of sciatica. And in each specific video, I'm going to give you an explanation of what each specific cause means, explain how that cause affects this sciatic nerve, explain conditions in which it is most likely to cause you pain, and then give an example of what we might do in clinic to help out.

In terms of a progression for this video series, we're essentially going to begin with an up close look at the different root causes of sciatica, starting at the spinal level [which can be seen in this picture]. Now some of these you may have heard of before, but you may also notice that a couple of the more or common diagnoses are missing, like disc bulges and degenerative disc disease. That's because the root causes shown in this picture are even more precise than those common diagnoses. For instance, under traditional diagnosing guidelines, both an annular delamination and an end plate fracture can both be classified under the disc bulge umbrella.

Expanding out from the more specific root causes of sciatica will go into a fuller body view. And I hope I'm not the first one telling you this, but I often find that I am, sciatica and back pain rarely begin with issues at the spine. So I'll end this video with a quick story of someone I recently saw to drive this point home.

This person had been to see his primary care physician, an orthopedic surgeon, a neurosurgeon, a physical therapist, and I believe two chiropractors. All the shots, the exercises, adjustments, needles, pills, etc, had failed him. Providers were pretty much at a loss, and surgery seemed like the only remaining option. His first day in our clinic, we spent two hours together assessing the full checklist of movements that we always do, and it was immediately clear that his left knee caved in and almost touched his opposite leg pretty much whenever he would squat or go from a sit to a stand. Other people had figured this out too, in physical therapy he had worked on some hip strengthening exercises. He said they seemed to help a little bit, but there was never any long term relief past the appointment.

In reality, his ankle was tight. Every single step he took, every time he changed position from sitting to standing, his entire lower body was thrown off. We loosened up that ankle and about two weeks, he no longer had sciatica in four. And as of now, about eight months later, he has not experienced back pain or sciatica again. Now the point of this story is not to convince you that I'm some quick acting genius. This scenario is something that we would call a slam dunk case, and it is so easy to fix, but it's painful to see how often cases like this result in surgery, as opposed to someone just getting the full body look that they need. And that is the most important takeaway from this video series.

Most of my back pain and sciatica patients report to me that “you’re the only one I’ve met so far who has done what you’re doing” – referring to spending time looking at the whole body. It seems like it should be pretty obvious that’s what should be done, but I promise you it isn’t the standard.  

Due to the amount of time spent during the initial appointments, we do not schedule them lightly, and have a mandatory phone call with a physical therapist before scheduling the appointment. We make sure to set aside time daily so we can talk with you, and you can schedule your call by hitting the button below and filling out the form.

A physical therapist will reach out within 24 hours of your scheduling.