Sciatic Pain
A male in his prime years recently visited me for his sciatic pain, or sciatica as it may be often called. Characteristic of this kind of problem is the radiation of pain from the buttocks to the legs as far down as the ankle. Such pain is immobilizing in many cases. My patient had to take time off from work to rest. This is a very good idea of course.
He once had this problem last year which lasted 4 weeks. It flared up again this year. He has been taking pain killers to manage it since it began. By the time he saw me it had just been a week since inception. I told him usually this is a result of some kind of nerve impingement at the lumbar and sacral vertebral junction. If he goes to have an X-ray done it should show such results. He said yes this was true.
This is one of the most common problems I treat in my clinic with acupuncture, sciatica, sciatic pain, buttock pain, back pain, and any variation of the above. Because of his age, health condition, and prior history, I told him he should be ok in 4 treatments.
Usually with the case of acupuncture the results build upon one another over a course of successive treatments. Because of this I mostly have patients come in twice a week. While we are trying to get rid of pain and inflammation and tension, but it is not like pain killers, muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatories. Acupuncture works from the inside out so the improvement is gradual. It is important that patients receiving acupuncture absolutely understand this. With this patient, the first two treatments made small improvements, while the 3rd treatment broke the tipping point and made a huge difference. After the 4th treatment the patient decided to take a break from acupuncture to see how the problem settles over the next few weeks before he goes back to work.
I think he should do quite well.