What Sciatica Evaluation Looks Like At Sembach Chiropractic

If you have sciatica, you probably want to get rid of the pain as soon as possible. Don't waste money or time on treatments that don't effect the cause. Here's how we identify where the source of the pain is coming from (and what needs to happen next) while evaluating sciatica pain Sembach Chiropractic.

WHAT SYMPTOMS WE COMMONLY SEE IN SCIATICA PATIENTS

Our sciatica patients usually have a very similar onset of symptoms - whether this type of pain is new, or they have had it for a long time. The pain usually gets worse with prolonged periods of sitting time, often making it more difficult to stand up afterward. Many of our patients have an active lifestyle, and experience this sharp shooting pain into the legs or glutes while performing specific lifts such as deadlifts, stiff leg deadlift or romanian deadlifts, and squats. They often end up avoiding the lift all together due to the severity of pain!

Pain starts from the lower back, then radiates into the upper glute muscle on one side, and can even travel all the way down the back of the leg to the calf muscle. Numbness and tingling can be present in this area as well. We will also see patients who have lower back pain, no radiating sharpness down the leg, but do have constantly tight hamstrings that don't improve in flexibility much with stretching.

HERE'S HOW WE BEGIN OUR EVALUATION OF SCIATICA

We always start the Comprehensive Examination with a thorough intake of your medical history. This allows us to have a clear idea of how the pain is effecting your day to day activities. This also allows us to ask deeper questions and rule out some other conditions that could be attributing to your pain.

We especially focus on your exercise activity at Sembach Chiropractic. We understand that the way you train has a big implication into your lifestyle and health goals. Furthermore, we identify what the pain is holding you back from. Your goals are important to us from start to finish.

MOVEMENT SCREENING

We then begin the movement based evaluations of the examination. We often begin with some standard orthopedic tests, with one test that is very specific to sciatica. This test brings the spinal cord and sciatic nerve into a full tension position and has been backed by research for it's efficacy. This can also indicate some of the ways we can treat the sciatica pain and the nerve. This orthopedic test circles back around and can be later used as an index for improvement with the rest of the examination process.

We also take our patients through a full body movement screen. This helps us to establish a baseline for your active range of motion and look at how each of the joints are working together for many of the movements you need to do on a daily basis. We also record whether pain is present during the movement, alongside video recording the movement itself. At the end of a treatment plan, we do this screen again and compare your movement from your starting point to how you move when you graduate from care. With sciatica specifically, we are also getting some information on which movements are creating pain and which may be more tolerable.

FINDING DIRECTIONAL PREFERENCE

One of our goals at Sembach Chiropractic is to improve the sciatica pain you are in while you are in for your examination. This gives a more clear picture of what the rest of the treatment plans should include. The biggest way we can achieve relief is by working with the spine to establish a directional preference. This follows the McKenzie Method technique set, and we have found it to be incredibly effective in practice. The goal is to get the spine consistently moving in a direction where afterwards the patient expresses an immediate improvement in sensation, intensity, distance the pain is radiating away from the lower back, or an improvement in a range of motion that was painful or more difficult previously! This is where we can retest our favorite orthopedic test for sciatica and see if there is improvement.

EVALUATION AND OUTCOMES

We take all of this information we have been able to observe during the Comprehensive Examination and then start writing up your treatment plan. We love the educational side of care, and we want to make sure patients have a full view of what they can expect as treatment proceeds. This means we also schedule a sit down, or strategy session together following the movement portion of the exam. When the patient comes in for this second day, we discuss the diagnosis with anatomy visuals first. We show you the likely suspects involved with the discomfort based on our findings. We also review what you stated were your health goals, so that the info is front and centered into the plan of action. We always say that if we are not helping you reach your goals, then we are not doing our job right!

We then provide the patient with traditional details, such as the number and frequency of visits, and the types of services that would be included in the plan. We never bill based off of an itemized list, that way the patient always gets what is needed each time they come in for treatment. Our services include not only the spinal adjustments option, but also several methods of soft tissue work (like dry needling), exercise therapies, and digital home exercise programming.

What really sets Sembach Chiropractic apart in this session is that we show the patient a breakdown of what the therapeutic exercise goals are throughout the entirety of their visits. We are often working through 3 phases of rehabilitation to bring an injury from its starting point to the patient's performance and pain goals outcome. We take the time to explain the why behind the how! Additionally, Dr. Cait takes the time to do a payment plan breakdown and find the most affordable possible option for you to proceed with care.

SAY GOODBYE TO SCIATICA PAIN

Now that you know what you can expect from Sembach Chiropractic, there's no time like the present to finally get out sciatica pain. Our new patient process and low volume clinic means that you are actually heard from day one in the office! But if you're still unsure or have more questions about what we can do to help, book a free Introductions Call! We want to make sure you feel like you're in the right place from the get-go, based on your condition and goals.

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