A Wider Angle Look At Sciatica And A More Permanent Solution

By Jay Uecker

We're going to be discussing the subject of sciatica in this short article. Sciatic nerve pain manifests itself as various types of pain extending from the low back or bum, all the way down to the foot. It's often related in any number of ways making it sound extremely painful: burning, electric shock, being stabbed with an ice pick, etc.
Sciatica takes its name from the large nerve that extends down the back of the leg, the sciatic nerve. Exiting from the anterior part of the lumbar spine and the sacrum are nerve roots. These nerves fuse together to form one large nerve known as the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is roughly the same thickness as your thumb. It leaves the posterior pelvis between the sacrum and hip bone and travels down the back of the leg, all the way to your foot. If there is a problem inside of the lower back or sacrum, the nerves there can be irritated and create irritation of the sciatic nerve. in addition to lumbar and sacrum nerve root irritation, muscle tightness can cause sciatic pain. There is a muscle that spans the sacrum and the hip bone called the piriformis muscle. The sciatic nerve leaves the pelvis through this muscle. Sometimes a restricted piriformis muscle can create sciatica by squeezing the sciatic nerve.
The foundation for my experience with sciatic pain comes from the concept that people tend to create protective, survival patterns within their nervous systems from the moment that they are in the womb, from the time that they are babies, and even when they are young kids. These survival patterns typically include deep tension being stored in the pelvis, belly and low back. This early on in our development, the brain doesn't have the capacity to think yet, the nervous system is just sensing into the environment. Resonance or entrainment are a couple of the terms that describe the manner in which our nervous systems are sharing information with the world around us during this stage in our lives.
We, of course, pay special attention to our father and mother as we're sensing into the world around us. As we're feeling into our parents their systems might give us the message that certain sensations, emotions and feelings are a threat; that the world's not safe. Our system uses muscle tension, posture and breath to wall off and disconnect from the problematic sensation, feeling or emotion. It utilizes our posture in order to keep certain aspects of our bodies separate from other parts and to create stretching within our spinal cord. When our spinal cord is being stretched it diminishes its ability to transmit information and reduces our ability to feel. Our system also shuts breathing down to certain areas because if you move an area and breathe into it you have to feel what is going on there and our nervous systems made the decision that certain areas are not safe to feel, and for that reason it locks the area down with muscle tension and shuts breath down to that region.
The core tension that is contained inside of the pelvis, low back and belly due to the survival programming in our nervous system, can manifest itself in a variety of ways, sciatic pain being just one of them. It could also lead to digestive system problems, reproductive organ issues, and other symptoms that are associated with the low back and pelvis area.
You can surf the web and get numerous remedies for sciatica. These options are likely to give short term relief at best. If the sciatic pain is approached from a more holistic perspective, a more permanent change can be brought about. It's possible to invite the nervous system out of survival mode so that it can observe the defensive patterns and dissipate the tension that's involved. However, in order to effect a change this way, the pelvis, low back and belly need to be approached with the greatest sensitivity.
Jay Uecker, D.C. has been practicing Network Spinal Analysis professionally since 2002. His educational journey has taken him from Lincoln, Nebraska where he received a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science, to Minneapolis, Minnesota and Northwestern College of Chiropractic where he received his Doctor of Chiropractic Degree. He has served in places like India and Peru and is currently the director of the Network Life Center in Louisville, Colorado. Click the link to learn more about sciatica relief and other topics related to health wellness and awakening.
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