Many people suffer with leg pain and don’t realise it could be coming from their back. Do you ever have on and off thigh pain that comes on only in the day or do you get pain in one foot when walking? Amazingly this could be related to your back.

How is this so?

Niki our principal chiropractor explains

‘Nerves don’t like to be squashed or compressed or even touched by other structures. If this happens the nerve is stimulated, and we experience the unrelenting pain of a nerve compression. Sciatica or leg pain is where the sciatic nerve is getting touched or impinged by a herniated or bulged disc. Generally, these complaints are severe, and most people will end up seeing their GP or heading down to Emergency, but some bulges can be very mild or even just because the disc irritated and inflamed causing mild leg pain that’s tolerable.  

Another type of ‘sciatica’ is pain that radiates down the back and into the buttock and back of the thigh. I experienced this pain a lot when I was pregnant, and this is pain from a very big muscle in the buttock called the piriformis. Generally, this muscle spasms when the pelvic joints aren’t moving effectively and efficiently or if the hip flexors are tight. This is treated quite easily within a few treatments and sometimes dry needling the piriformis just halts it in its tracks especially if coupled with a good glut strengthening exercise program.

So, in a nutshell, not all leg pain is serious, but it is worth getting it looked at by a health care professional. Pain is always a sign of inflammation somewhere along the line and this will be causing tissue to damage the longer it is left’.

You know you can come to us for back pain, but did you know you can visit your chiro for leg pain too? Click our online booking link to make an appointment for a comprehensive assessment of your complaint.