Once a person knows how sciatica occurs, he/she starts to understand why acupuncture can be an effective procedure in treating it. Some of us are aware that sciatica is a symptom resulting from a pressure impinging on the sciatic nerve. This pressure causes pain down the back or side of the leg that can radiate as far down as the ankle. This impingement or pressure can be due to a combination of different factors:

  1. Degenerative joint disease, a herniated disc, or other issues with the structure of the spine – they all can bear pressure on the nerves that are bundled together to form what is known as the sciatic nerve.
  2. Inflammation that causes more irritation and pressure to the sciatic nerve.
  3. Spasms of the different muscles where the sciatic nerve extends through squeezing the nerves (particularly the piriformis muscle). There may be other muscles that spasm around the spine that can increase the pressure caused by a bulging disc.

Acupuncture for treating sciatica pain in Cleveland is effective in addressing the last two causes of sciatica. Still, even if a herniated disc is involved, the muscle spasm and the secondary inflammation can also be mitigated by acupuncture, and the pressure can also be decreased to help lessen the severity of the pain.

The nerves become more sensitive when a bulging disc presses on it. Additional pressure coming from tight muscles that bears on those same nerves will eventually lead to sciatic pain. We can consider these tight muscles as “the straw that breaks the camel’s back.” Therefore, while acupuncture maybe unable to repair a bulging disc, it can help decrease the pain and more importantly the spasmodic muscles. These spasmodic muscles are the ones adding pressure on the nerves that bring about the pain in the first place.