According to the American Physical Therapy Association, back pain is the most commonly reported pain across the nation, and one out of every four Americans has experienced back pain in the past three months.
For the treatment of sciatica, our physical therapists will implement specific leg stretches into your treatment plan to loosen the sciatic nerve. This restores the natural health of the nerve and quickly reduces symptoms.
The early stages of your physical therapy treatment will focus on quick pain relief. Afterward, our physical therapist will expand your treatment to include strengthening your core muscle group with specific therapeutic exercises and stretches. This helps improve your strength and range of motion to prevent re-injury of your spine. Our physical therapist will also provide you with ergonomic techniques for taking care of your spine during daily activities, such as sitting at a desk or driving.
Back pain and sciatica are both completely treatable through physical therapy. Our South Jordan, UT physical therapist will create a specific treatment plan for you based upon your diagnosis.
Sciatica’s technical name is “lumbar radiculopathy.” People who develop this condition are generally between the ages of 30 and 50. Many different types of injuries can cause the development of sciatica, including arthritis, bone spurs, or any other injury that impacts the sciatic nerve.
Most commonly, we find that people lose their flexibility in the hips and pelvis, which causes the gluteus and hip muscles to become tightened. In turn, this alters the mechanics of the spine, and compresses the sciatic nerve as it travels through these tissues.
Back pain and sciatica – defined
Sciatica is a specific type of back pain that is reported as being highly uncomfortable. However, it is also fortunately very simple to diagnose. People with sciatica experience pain along the sciatic nerve, which is the largest nerve in your body.
Sciatica
The sciatic nerve begins at your lower back and then splits at the base of your spine to extend further down to your buttocks, legs, and finally ends at the bottom of each foot. The sciatic nerve can become compressed or irritated, which causes a “shooting,” “stinging,” or “burning” sensation in your lower back, buttocks, legs, or feet.
Back pain
“Back pain” is a term that can be caused by an array of different conditions. For example, you may experience back pain due to poor posture, a motor vehicle accident, or a lifting injury. The treatment plan that our South Jordan, UT physical therapist sets up for you, will depend on how you developed the back pain, in addition to its exact location and your past medical history.
Back pain can be described as acute, meaning it is short-term, or chronic, meaning it is long-term (typically lasting for three months or longer).
