Can Dry Needling Help My Sciatica?
The short answer is ABSOLUTELY! In most cases dry needling can reduce tension and the nervous system response in the soft tissue and other local areas including nearby sensory nerves in order to give us access to the areas affected in order to improve the pain being felt in the buttock or down the leg. In this article we will talk about Where Sciatica Comes From, How Dry Needling Affects Sciatica, and How Dry Needling is Used to Restore Function.
Where Sciatica Comes From
There are many different sources of pain when it comes to sciatica and not all are disc related…EVEN IF YOU HAVE A BULGING OR HERNIATED DISC. That last statement is very important because there are numerous research articles where asymptomatic persons (people without pain) are taken through MRI and found to have about a 50% positive rate (or higher) for disc pathology (bulging or herniated discs). Sciatica, then, can come from disc origins, tension in muscles and also adhesions in the nerves or fascial tissues where the nerves are located. Sciatica happens when pressure is put on a nerve in any of these cases that creates a pain response down the limb.
How Dry Needling Affects Sciatica
There are three really big ways dry needling affects sciatica.
1) By reducing the tension in muscles surrounding the disc/nerve (where the nerve pierces a muscle or where the muscle surrounds a joint providing excessive compression in one specific area) This relaxation can immediately improve pain by itself.
2) By improving the mobility of the fascial system. Muscle, nerves, tendons, basically all tissues in the body are surrounded by a connective tissue called fascia. If this is tight, the tissue can cause increased compressive forces up to 2000 pounds of force on a given area.
3) By reducing the autonomic nervous system’s (ANS) perception of threat to an area. The ANS is our fight or flight mechanism and can cause increased sensitivity to painful stimuli. Needling works with the ANS often times releasing natural opiates in the body that cause the body to feel relief of pain.
Have more questions or would like to schedule a dry needling consultation for your sciatica? Call us at 615-815-9953 or send an email to dustin@executivept.com
