Addressing Sciatic Pain:
Start Early for Best Results
Lower back pain is bad enough. Now imagine that pain radiating down through your buttocks and into your leg. Maybe your leg becomes numb. Maybe the pain is so bad that you can barely walk! For people with sciatica, this nightmare scenario is a reality. Sciatica is a type of lumbar radiculopathy (i.e., nerve pain) resulting from damage or irritation to the sciatic nerve, which runs from your lower back down the back of your leg. Sciatica can be debilitating. In addition to intense pain, it severely limits your mobility — some people may struggle to get around at all. And because it results from nerve damage, it can also cause numbness, tingling, and other sensations in the leg. The good news is that the team at Jenna Howe offers several treatment options for sciatic pain. Our approach doesn’t simply mask the symptoms—it seeks to resolve the underlying cause of your sciatic pain so that you have lasting relief.
Are you ready to seek relief for sciatica? Call us to set up your initial evaluation today — and let us get to the root of your sciatica!
When Should I Seek Sciatica Treatment?
As with most musculoskeletal pains, sooner is better! Many people try to ride out sciatic pain by taking pain medication and resting, which can actually be counterproductive and further worsen the underlying cause of their sciatica. By seeking out early intervention, you may start feeling better sooner.
You should also pay attention to changes in the severity of your pain or shifting sensations in your back and leg. Because sciatica is caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve, these changing symptoms can indicate something is happening to the nerve.
What Sciatica Symptoms Should I Watch Out For?
- Increased pain in the morning or after remaining in one position for an extended period
- Pain in the lower back, buttocks, and leg. (Sciatica usually only affects one leg at a time.) This pain might be dull, throbbing, aching, shooting, sharp, etc. Remember to pay attention to changes in sensation!
- Numbness or tingling in the back, buttocks, or leg
- Restricted range of motion in the back. You might struggle to twist, bend, or stand up straight.
- Walking with a limp
What To Expect from Sciatica Treatment
When you come in for your appointment, our osteopathic therapists will perform a comprehensive evaluation to help us determine what might be irritating, pinching, or compressing your sciatica nerve. We’ll ask you to share details about your symptoms, such as when they started and the exact sensations you’re experiencing (i.e., dull pain, shooting pain, numbness). We’ll also perform several movement screens that give us a complete picture of your situation. We might check the following:
Overall mobility
Muscle weakness & activity
Nerve activity
Posture
Balance & gait
Once we understand what’s causing your sciatic pain, we’ll develop a customized treatment plan to address that cause. The most common cause of sciatica is a lumbar herniated disc. Nestled between each vertebra in your spine is a vertebral disc, a soft cushion of cartilage that protects the vertebrae from rubbing against each other. If one of those discs becomes damaged — either because of a sudden injury or age-related degeneration — they can rupture or bulge, irritating the nearby sciatic nerve.
By addressing your herniated disc, you can resolve your sciatica. For most people, that means a program consisting of hands-on manual therapy techniques and targeted therapeutic exercises to help manage pain as you work to improve mobility and function in your joints.
Don’t Let That Sciatic Pain Linger: Make Your Appointment Today!
Sciatica can dramatically impact your overall quality of life. Early intervention with Jenna Howe can help you find the relief you need.
If you’re living with sciatica, call today to make your appointment!
Concussion Corner
Preventing Concussions
At Jenna Howe, we regularly help patients rehabilitate after suffering a concussion. However, something we really like to stress is the importance of concussion prevention. Concussions occur when the brain jostles inside the skull. This might occur due to a blow to the head, a bad fall, or whiplash (when the head whips rapidly back and forth). While accidents happen, you can take several simple precautions to help minimize your risk.
Four Concussion Prevention Tips from our Concussion Recovery Therapists
These four tips can get you started in concussion prevention. If you’d like more personalized guidance, schedule an appointment at Jenna Howe today!
Wear Proper Protective Gear
Always wear helmets or headgear when participating in sports or activities like cycling, skiing, or skateboarding. Ensure they fit snugly and meet safety standards. We can help ensure you’re using the correct equipment.
Practice Safe Play
Avoid aggressive physical contact during sports. Even the most notorious contact sports (like hockey) have rules to prioritize safety. Follow them at all times.
Strengthen Neck Muscles
Exercises that target the neck can reduce the impact of head movements during collisions or whiplash.
Reduce Fall Risk
Young athletes aren’t the only ones at risk for concussion. Older adults should work to reduce their fall risk through targeted balance and strengthening exercises. Improving core and lower body strength is especially important.
Staff Spotlight: Tara Neifer
Tara is a new graduate of Manual Osteopathy and has recently completed her Level 1 Neurokinetic Therapy training. NKT is a modality of manual muscle testing that seeks out compensation strategies. This helps to get muscles turned on or off as needed for the body to find homeostasis. Tara has been a student and teacher of yoga for over 20 years. She is well skilled at watching bodies move and strives to use that knowledge to promote healing and recovery. She believes that a synergy between Osteopathy and therapeutic movement will have a true positive effect. Tara also enjoys swimming and works in Sooke coaching and instructing. She has yoga classes currently running in Sooke as well. Tara joins the Victoria practice and is available on Saturdays.
Recipe of the Month: Classic Lasagna
Ingredients:
- 12 lasagna noodles: oven-ready or no-cook noodles
- Optional garnish: sprinkle with fresh basil or Italian parsley.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried sage (or Italian seasoning)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel (or 1 teaspoon fennel seeds)
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 40 ounces marinara sauce (5 cups), divided.
- 1/4 cup broth
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese or pecorino cheese, divided
- 2 & 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese, divided
Directions:
- Set the oven to 350F
- Make the Italian Sausage: Saute onions in olive oil over medium heat in a large pan or skillet until softened, 4 minutes. Add garlic and stir in for a minute. Add ground beef, pork, salt, pepper, oregano, sage, fennel, smoked paprika and red pepper flakes (if using). Stir regularly, incorporating the spices into the meat for 7- 8 minutes until the meat browns.
- Meat Sauce: Add 3 cups of the marinara sauce and the broth to the browned meat. (Reserve two cups of plain marinara for the bottom and very top of the lasagna.) Cover, simmer five minutes and remove from heat. You’ll have 4 ½-5 cups of meat sauce.
- Cheese Filling: In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Add 1 & 1/2 cups of grated mozzarella and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan (we aren’t adding all of the cheese here-saving part of the cheese for the top) and stir until combined. Save the remaining cheese for the top of the lasagna.
- Assemble Lasagna: Spread one cup of the reserved marinara on the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Place 3 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture evenly on the noodles, the spread 1 ½ cups of the meat sauce. Repeat this layering sequence 2 more times, pressing down lightly with each layer.
- For the top layer, place the last of the lasagna noodles, spread the remaining reserved marinara over the noodles, sprinkle with parmesan, and lastly, sprinkle with the mozzarella.
- Bake: Cover with parchment paper and aluminum foil, so the foil doesn’t touch the lasagna. Bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes or until bubbling. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes until golden. Optional: Broil for 3-5 minutes until cheese gets bubbly and brown, keep a close eye!
- Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
