Back pain can make it difficult to perform everyday activities. Whether you’re incredibly physically active or struggling to sit through your work shift, this pain can become debilitating. As pain progresses, you may wonder whether you have sciatica or lower back pain. Understanding the difference between the two is essential to ensure proper treatment.
If you want to learn more about sciatica and lower back pain and how to identify which condition you’re experiencing, keep reading.
Understanding Lower Back Pain
Your lower back plays a major role in supporting your body. It acts as the stable base for your spine, supports much of your body weight, and helps you balance. With so many muscles and ligaments moving through your lower back, it allows you to walk, run, sit, and move throughout your everyday activities.
There are many reasons why you may have lower back pain, including improper lifting, menstruation, pregnancy, herniated discs, and strains. Strains are the most common reason why someone may experience lower back pain. However, car accidents, impacts during contact sports, and genetic conditions can also cause this discomfort.
While some lower back pain may go away on its own, it is best to reach out to a medical provider for support if the pain lasts longer than a week, becomes more severe, or leads to numbness and weakness. With care from a doctor or chiropractor, you can identify the root cause of this pain and ensure you begin healing.
Symptoms of Lower Back Pain
If you’re experiencing lower back pain, there are a few symptoms you may experience, including:
- Aches and pains in your lower back that don’t extend beyond your back
- Stiffness that makes it difficult to straighten your back
- Worsening posture
- Painful, uncontrollable muscle spasms
Understanding Sciatica
Your sciatic nerve is located in your lower back and runs down the back of both legs. It is the largest nerve in your body and is responsible for motor control in your lower legs, allowing you to walk, run, and jump. Unlike lower back pain, which has a variety of causes, sciatica is a direct result of the compression of your sciatic nerve.
There are a few reasons why you may have sciatica. Some genetic conditions may be the main reason why you have sciatica. However, if you’re experiencing spinal disc injuries, like herniation or degenerative disc disease, you may also experience this pain. Additionally, it isn’t uncommon to have sciatica during pregnancy.
Unlike lower back pain, this condition takes several weeks to remedy. For some people, it may go away in about a month. However, if you notice symptoms worsening, it is essential that you reach out to a medical provider for support. They can provide you with exercises and support to help relieve nerve pain.
Symptoms of Sciatica
If you have sciatica, there are a few symptoms you may experience, including:
- A burning pain from your lower back that runs through your legs
- A tingling sensation that feels similar to your legs falling asleep
- Numbness in the affected areas
- Muscle weakness as the pain persists
Do You Have Sciatica or Lower Back Pain?
While it may seem difficult to determine if you have sciatica or lower back pain, there is one incredibly easy way to distinguish between the two. Because sciatica is a result of the compression of the sciatic nerve, anyone with this condition will experience a radiating pain that begins in your lower back and spreads down the back of your legs.
Lower back pain, on the other hand, is contained in the muscles and nerves located in your lower back. Additionally, lower back pain typically only feels like an ache. If you notice the pain spreading through your back and into your legs, it is likely that you aren’t experiencing lower back pain and instead have sciatica.
How Your Chiropractor Can Help With Sciatica and Back Pain
If you have sciatica or lower back pain, your chiropractor is the perfect partner to help you begin treating this discomfort. There are a few ways your chiropractor can help you address each condition, including:
- Spinal Adjustments: Using manual adjustments, your chiropractor will restore alignment and relieve pressure on the nerves that caused your discomfort.
- Decompression Therapy: Your chiropractor may recommend decompression therapy to create negative pressure on your spinal discs and alleviate pain.
- Soft Tissue Therapy: With chiropractic massage or stretching, your team will address tension and spasms contributing to your back pain and sciatica.
- Lifestyle Modifications: Your team may make lifestyle modification suggestions, like an ergonomic work setup and increased physical activity to aid recovery.
- At-Home Exercises: They may prescribe at-home exercises to strengthen and support your back to reduce your risk of future injuries.
Treating All Back Pain in Tooele County
Whether you have sciatica or back pain, working with an expert chiropractor can help you get on the road to recovery. If you’re looking for a reliable chiropractic team in the Tooele County area, turn to our Muscle & Joint Chiropractic team. For years, we’ve provided patients across Tooele and Grantsville with the most comprehensive chiropractic treatment. With our experience, you can trust that we’ll help you find the back pain relief you deserve.
If you want to learn more about how we can help you if you have sciatica or lower back pain or schedule an appointment, don’t hesitate to contact us today.