Understanding The Leg Pain You’re Experiencing

Our goal at REACH Rehab + Chiropractic Performance Center is to help you get back to the lifestyle that you enjoy as soon as possible. We use customized manual medicine and movement coaching to remove the guesswork from the leg pain you are experiencing. We are not just healers; we are problem-solvers.

By taking the time to understand you, the leg pain that brought you to us, and how the problem behaves, we can guide you toward a solution that gets you back to doing what you love. We call it “delivering the power to do.”

Leg pain can involve the muscles, bones, joints, or a combination of all three. When occurring chronically, this pain frequently causes people to miss work, see their primary care doctor, or file for disability. Common causes of leg pain include:

• Trauma injuries – physical damage to the muscles, bones, or joints, usually resulting from a car accident, fall, or some other type of external force.
• Exercise-induced injuries – muscle strain, tightness, and soreness resulting from overuse during exercise or from exercising a particular set of muscles for the first time in a while.
• Sports injuries – shin splints and knee pain in runners, ankle pain in basketball players, and other kinds of non-contact injuries related to athletics.

Sciatica is a term often used to describe pain, tingling, numbness, or weakness down the leg and as far as the toes. The sciatic nerve is a collection of nerve roots that emerge from both sides of the lower back, combine in the hips and buttocks on each side to form one nerve, and then travel down each leg.

Sciatica is usually the result of inflammation or irritation along the sciatic nerve. Most sciatica results from or is made worse by mechanical problems such as poor posture, incorrect sitting position, repetitive strain, or specific movements. Lumbar-induced sciatica is very common.

Some people suffer sciatica symptoms daily. If the symptoms continue for three months or longer, the sciatica pain is considered chronic.

Think of the sciatic nerve as a garden hose. When there’s a kink in the hose, the water (signals from the brain) can’t flow freely, which sets off an alarm (sciatica pain).

The source of the kink is usually in the low back and may spill over and cause hip muscle tightness. Although most sciatica pain will resolve independently, there is sometimes cause for concern. If you have constant weakness and numbness in the affected leg or are experiencing bladder dysfunction, fever, direct trauma, or unexplained weight loss, seek immediate medical attention.

Strategy #1: Use the McKenzie® Lumbar Roll

– Round pillow made of easily-compressed material

– Provides medium-firm support to the lower back when sitting on soft chairs, sofas, and beds

– In addition to using the lumbar roll, get up and move around every 30 to 60 minutes.

Strategy #3: Perform a Stretching Exercise

– Lie flat, face down, and use your arms to push up from the waist (like a cobra snake about to strike) to stretch the back. Do not force it. Repeat 10 to 20 times.

– Feeling better after this exercise is a promising sign that you can benefit from chiropractic care.

Leg pain is complex and frustrating. Let our team at REACH Rehab + Chiropractic address the underlying cause and help relieve your pain as quickly as possible. We help athletes, hard workers, and everyday people feel and move better than before while learning to keep it that way.

From arthritis to carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow to hip pain, headaches to pinched nerves, leg pain to TMJ disorder – REACH Rehab + Chiropractic Performance Center can help you find relief through an integrated approach, including sciatica treatment and chiropractic adjustments. As a leading chiropractor in Plymouth, MI, we also serve Canton, Ann Arbor, and surrounding Michigan communities.

Click here to book an appointment or call REACH Rehab + Chiropractic Performance Center at (734) 530-9134.