Solihull physiotherapist reviews back pain, backache, low back pain, slipped discs and sciatica

Back pain, backache and low back pain could result in sciatica states Solihull Physiotherapist

Tamworth and Solihull Osteopath and Physiotherapist John Williams looks at back pain, sciatica and trapped nerves in Solihull, Birmingham, West Midlands and provides an insight into prolapsed discs for his Hall Green and Shirley customers.

For the millions of people world wide that suffer from back pain, backache or low back pain, things may be about to get worse. Sciatica, which is the irritation of the sciatic nerve root in most cases will leave you with symptoms of pain along the length of the nerve. This is often pain that is experienced down the back of the thigh and into the calf. You may get symptoms into the foot or down the side of your upper thigh which is very uncomfortable.

Sciatic pain can prevent you from walking and affect your sleep, leaving you irritated or depressed.

Symptoms of a trapped nerve like sciatica can be present for months and may be responsible for many days lost at work. Sciatica or sciatic nerve pain is very common but very painful and in order to treat this condition effectively you first need a diagnosis of the cause of this condition.

Basically sciatica is a nerve root irritation which means that something is irritating the nerve root. This can be described as a bulging disc, herniated disc, prolapsed disc, slipped disc, all of these terms are used to suggest that the outer wall of your disc has deteriorated and allowed a spillage of inner disc material to leak out. As the material leaks out under pressure it can press against one of your nerve roots located nearby which results in nerve root irritation. Depending on how much pressure is applied to the nerve root, the nerve pain will begin to travel along the length of the nerve. In the case of the sciatic nerve, it runs through the buttock and down the leg into your foot.

Some patients who seek help with back pain and sciatica are told they have a slipped disc. The practitioner may suggest that by cracking your back that they have put the disc back in place for you. This is in fact not the case as the discs do not actually slip at all, they are stitched into place and cannot slip out. If your vision is of a pile of coins stacked on top of one another and one slips out to the side and is gratefully realigned for you by someone pushing the coin into place, this is not the case. More accurate would be the vision of a jam doughnut that had been squeezed and the jam had leaked out. It would be a fancy trick to be able to push the jam back into the doughnut so I suggest that the explanation used of "just popping your disc back after it slips out" is too simplistic if not totally misleading.

Xrays will only show bones and are not suitable for diagnosing disc injuries. As discs are classified as soft tissue, a more accurate diagnostic tool is the MRI scan. Xrays are not good for you and should only be considered if a fracture, bone disease or pathology is suspected. Xrays can be obtained from your GP free of charge should you suspect there may be a need for investigation. Xrays are sometimes used to diagnose a scoliosis of the spine and convince the patient they have a spinal problem. A scoliosis of the spine is a lateral deviation of the spine which is a sideways curvature. If the curvature is anything of note it can be seen with the naked eye and will not need an xray. Many people have a scoliosis and unless this is very severe, it will not affect your life in any significant way. It is unlikely that cracking your back will rid you of an unwanted scoliosis and you may find more help from a simple heel lift worn in your shoe which would level your pelvis if you have a leg length difference.

If you need help or advice on back pain, trapped nerves or sciatica you can contact Atlas Back Pain Relief Centre in Hall Green Birmingham which is located on the Robin Hood roundabout near Shirley Solihull. Details, educational articles and testimonials can be viewed on the website www.solihullbackpainclinic.co.uk