That shooting pain down your leg is brutal. You stand up and, boom, there it is. Sleep? Forget it. You’re tossing around all night trying to find one position that doesn’t hurt.
You’ve already done the heating pad thing. The ice. Eaten enough ibuprofen to worry about your liver. Watched all the YouTube stretches. Maybe dropped serious cash on that chair that was supposed to correct everything. Still hurting.
Lot of people just stop doing stuff. No more weekend hikes. Basketball’s out. Playing with the kids on the floor? Can’t do it. Some days you think, is this just my life now?
No. It’s not.
At Glendale Chiropractic, we help Denver area patients find the actual cause of their sciatica and correct it. Not just manage it. Not the band-aid kind of relief. The kind where you correct what’s broken so you can go back to living.
Call 720-889-1659 | Schedule Your Sciatica Assessment Today
What’s Causing Your Sciatic Pain?
Longest nerve in the body. Starts in your lower spine, runs through your buttocks, all the way down to your foot. Squeeze or irritate it anywhere along that path and you get it. That shooting, burning pain down one side. That is sciatica.
What causes the compression:
- Herniated Disc: Cushion between two vertebrae bulges out and presses directly on the nerve root. Accounts for up to 90% of cases. Most common thing we see. See how we treat herniated disc causing sciatica.
- Spinal Stenosis: The channel the nerve runs through narrows over time. Nerve gets pinched. More of a problem once you are past 50.
- Piriformis Syndrome: Deep muscle in the buttock goes into spasm and presses on the sciatic nerve from the outside. Not a disc issue at all.
- Degenerative Disc Disease: Discs wear down over time. Less cushion, more inflammation, nerve gets irritated.
- Bone Spurs: Bony growths on the vertebrae, often from arthritis. They catch nerve roots.
- Spondylolisthesis: One vertebra slides forward over the one below it. Nerve gets caught in the gap. Hard word. Real problem.
Sometimes you know exactly why. Lifted wrong, got rear-ended in traffic. Other times it builds so gradually there is no single moment to point to. Years at a desk, bad posture, just how things have settled. Either way, it does not correct itself without addressing what is actually compressing the nerve.
How Sciatica Actually Feels
Most people describe it as:
- Shooting or burning pain that starts in the low back or buttock and travels down one leg
- Numbness, tingling, or pins-and-needles in the leg or foot
- Weakness in the affected leg
- Pain that cranks up after sitting for a while, especially when you first stand
- Sharp pain with sudden movement. Sneezing, coughing, twisting.
Leave it alone and it gets worse. That is usually how this goes. Prolonged nerve compression raises the risk of neuropathy developing alongside the sciatica. Two problems instead of one.
Red Flag Symptoms: Go to the Emergency Room
Some symptoms are not a chiropractic visit. They are an ER visit. Go immediately if you have:
- Sudden loss of bowel or bladder control (possible Cauda Equina Syndrome, this is a surgical emergency)
- Progressive weakness spreading into both legs
- Numbness in the groin or saddle area, sudden onset
- Severe pain following a major fall or impact
Go to the emergency room or call 911. Do not wait to see if it passes.
What Makes Sciatica Worse? Common Mistakes Denver Patients Make
Flare hits. Two instincts kick in: push through it, or stop moving entirely. Both tend to make things worse. What actually helps:
Avoid This vs. Do This Instead
- Sitting for long, unbroken stretches. Take a movement break every 20 to 30 minutes.
- Aggressive forward bending (toe touches, crunches). Switch to gentle, controlled movement: short walks, nerve glides.
- Extended bed rest past 24 to 48 hours. Stay gently active. Light walking keeps the tissue from stiffening.
- Heavy lifting with a bent waist. Bend at the knees, keep the load close to your body.
- High-impact exercise during a flare. Walking on flat surfaces and gentle stretching instead.
- Slouching in soft chairs or couches. Sit fully back with lumbar support, feet flat on the floor.
- Caffeine, alcohol, processed foods. Hydration, anti-inflammatory foods, limit alcohol.
How We Treat Sciatica at Glendale Chiropractic
Everyone’s different. Your sciatica is not going to be the exact same as the person before you. No cookie-cutter approach here.
First visit, we talk. When did it start? What sets it off? What have you tried? From there, a thorough exam to find where the nerve is getting compressed and why. Plan gets built from that, not from a template.
Nine out of ten sciatica patients get better without surgery. The job is to get you there by correcting the structural problem, not just managing pain around it.
Chiropractic Adjustments
Spine out of alignment puts pressure on the sciatic nerve. We adjust it back where it should be. Takes the pressure off.
People get nervous about adjustments. Think it is going to hurt. Most of the time there is some pressure, maybe a pop (just gas in the joint, completely normal). Most people feel better right after, not worse.
The Invertrac decompresses the affected spinal segments. What makes it different from a basic decompression table: it works the lower back muscles at the same time. Decompressing and strengthening in the same session. Less pressure on the nerve, more support from the muscles holding things in place. Recovery tends to move faster.
Laser Therapy
Brings down inflammation around the nerve. Speeds up healing. Does not hurt. Feels warm, kind of nice actually. Laser light goes deep into the tissue, reduces swelling, helps the body repair faster. Works especially well in between adjustments and decompression sessions.
Therapeutic Exercise and Stretching
Pain settles down enough to move. That is when we start teaching you exercises. Not the generic stretch list from a website. Specific work for your spine, your weakness pattern, your situation. Core, hips, lower back. Target what gave out in the first place.
Posture and Lifestyle Guidance
Desk setup, how you lift, how you move through a normal day. Small habits that keep triggering the nerve without you realizing it. We go through it. Long-term is the point, not just getting you out of pain this week.
Will My Sciatica Heal on Its Own?
Sometimes. Mild cases, first-time flares especially, can clear up in four to six weeks with basic care. But that is not the rule.
Recovery depends heavily on what is causing it. A bulging disc behaves very differently from a bone spur. Waiting it out without finding the root cause usually means the next flare hits sooner and harder.
Come in if you are experiencing:
- Still hurting after four to six weeks of trying everything at home
- Symptoms getting worse instead of better
- Numbness, weakness, or any foot drop
- Pain cutting into sleep, work, or your ability to function
Lasting relief means correcting what is actually compressing the nerve. Seen people wait months, years before coming in. By then it is way harder to correct. Sooner you deal with it, the faster you heal.
What You Can Do at Home Between Visits
Keep Moving Gently
Walking. One of the genuinely better things for sciatica. Gets blood moving through the inflamed area, helps clear out chemical irritants, does not load the spine the way sitting still does. Short walks, five to ten minutes at a time, several times a day. Shorter stride than normal, core engaged, decent shoes.
Sleeping Position
Side sleeping with a pillow between the knees. That works. On your back with a pillow under the knees also works. Both keep the lumbar spine neutral. Stomach sleeping extends the low back and makes the compression worse. Change that habit if you have it.
Temperature Therapy
Ice in the first 48 hours. Fifteen to twenty minutes at a time. After that, switch to heat. Heating pad, warm bath. Loosens muscle tightness, gets circulation moving. Forty-eight hours is the transition point.
Gentle Stretches
Two stretches that help without making things worse:
Seated Piriformis Stretch: painful leg crossed over the opposite knee, lean slowly forward until you feel the stretch in your glute. Hold it.
Knee-to-Chest: flat on your back, one knee pulled toward your chest, hold 30 seconds.
If a stretch increases your pain, stop. An irritated nerve does not respond well to being forced.
Common Questions About Sciatica Treatment
How long will it take to get better?
Depends. How long have you had it? What is causing it? Some people feel noticeably better after a few sessions. Others take a few weeks. Most of our sciatica patients see real improvement within two to four weeks and keep improving from there. Years of chronic sciatica takes longer, but it still gets better with the right approach.
Will the adjustments hurt?
Gentler than people expect. Some pressure. Occasionally a pop, which is just gas in the joint. Normal, happens all the time. Most people feel relief right away, not more pain. If you are in a bad flare and really tender, we work with what you can handle and ease into it.
What if chiropractic doesn’t work for me?
Works for most people. Not all. If we are not moving in the right direction after a fair amount of time, I will tell you. Other options exist: physical therapy, injections, surgery in rare cases where nothing else works. What you will not get from me is false hope or being strung along.
How do I stop sciatica pain right now?
Stop sitting for long stretches. Ice in the first 48 hours, then heat. Keep gently moving with short walks. Ibuprofen can knock down swelling around the nerve root if you tolerate it. If nothing shifts after a few days, or it keeps coming back, that is the compression talking. Managing symptoms is not the same as correcting the source.
What is the best sleeping position for sciatica?
Side sleeping with a pillow between the knees. Less pressure on the nerve, spine stays neutral. Back sleeping with a pillow under the knees is a close second. Stomach sleeping extends the lumbar spine and makes the compression worse. Worth changing if that is your default.
How do I unpinch the sciatic nerve?
At home: ice and heat alternating, sciatic nerve glides (slowly straighten the leg while lying on your back), the piriformis stretch, short walks. These help with inflammation and muscle spasm around the nerve. They do not correct underlying compression. If a disc or bone spur is the cause, spinal decompression or chiropractic adjustment is what actually addresses it.
How do I permanently get rid of sciatica?
Getting rid of it for good means correcting what is compressing the nerve. Not just managing symptoms around it. Most patients get there without surgery. Adjustments, spinal decompression, rehab, building back core strength. Surgery comes into the picture when conservative care has run its course and nerve damage is still progressing.
Will my insurance cover this?
Most Colorado insurance plans cover chiropractic care for sciatica. In-network with most major providers. We check your benefits, sometimes before your first visit. No surprises on the bill. High deductible or no insurance? Cash rates and payment plans are available. That should not be what keeps you from getting this corrected.
What to Expect at Your First Visit
New doctor’s office when you’re hurting? Not fun. Here’s how it goes so you are not stressed.
You show up. Fill out paperwork on your health history and what’s going on. Too much pain to stand? We get you sitting comfortably first.
Then we talk. When did it start? What sets it off? What makes it better or worse? What’ve you tried? Takes fifteen, twenty minutes. I actually want to understand what you’re dealing with.
Physical exam after that. Check your posture, watch you move, test reflexes. Simple tests to nail down where the nerve is being compressed. If imaging is needed, we refer you out to a trusted local facility and review the results before any adjustment protocol begins.
Once I know what’s going on, I walk you through it in plain terms. What I found, what it means, what I’d recommend. No doctor-speak.
You leave that first visit knowing what is actually happening and what the options are. About 30 minutes, start to finish.
Ready to Get Relief? Here’s What to Do Next
Reading this right now, you’re probably hurting. Some people find this page after a few weeks of pain. Others have been dealing with it for years. Managing it is not the same as correcting it.
We’ve been helping Denver-area patients get lasting relief from sciatica for over 15 years. Dr. John Brockway and the team are committed to care that works, in a place that doesn’t feel like a typical doctor’s office.
Sciatica is not the only condition tied to spinal compression. Headaches and migraines from cervical spine pressure are another pattern we see and treat regularly.
For patients who want to understand what happens before we start, we cover how a chiropractic adjustment works on the sciatic nerve in detail on its own page.
Sciatica that started after a crash is its own situation. If a vehicle was involved, our car accident chiropractor page covers that evaluation path. And if you have a formal claim, a personal injury chiropractic evaluation gives you the documentation record you may need.
Sometimes the compression starts with the shape of the spine itself. Sciatic pain rooted in scoliosis is a pattern we look for and know how to work with.
Call us, tell us you’ve got sciatica, and we’ll block enough time for a real evaluation.
Glendale Chiropractic
425 S. Cherry St., Suite 307, Denver
720-889-1659
Monday through Thursday, 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 2:30 to 6:00 PM. Closed Friday through Sunday.
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Call 720-889-1659 to schedule your sciatica assessment.