Sciatica is irritation to the sciatic nerve, which is felt as a sharp and burning pain down the leg below the knee, often with tingling and numbness. There are some variations in the quality of symptoms, but it is often felt as more intense than any accompanying low back or hip pain.

Treatment of sciatica involves finding the source of sciatic nerve irritation, which is most commonly the low back, followed by the hip. In the low back, structures like discs, ligaments, and other spinal structures can irritate the nerve roots of the sciatic nerve mechanically, or cause inflammation to the nerve roots.

Chiropractors frequently assess and treat issues that cause sciatica. Ideal treatment involves finding specific nerve-relieving positions that can be adopted as postures and exercises throughout the day, supportive hands-on therapy, and learning how to modifying nerve-provoking postures and movements.

Lumbar radiculopathy is when the nerve roots of the low back are chemically or mechanically sensitized, usually by a disc or a spinal vertebrae. In radiculopathy, the nerve injury is severe enough that you can detect sensation, reflex, and muscle strength loss in the lower limb that the nerve supplies function to.

In lumbar radiculitis, the nerve is irritated, but not to the point of functional loss and only to the point of symptoms.

In both conditions people experience pain and nerve-like symptoms along the sciatic or femoral nerves, depending on which lumbar nerve roots are effected.

Most radiculopathy is responsive to conservative treatment involves exercises and hands-on treatment, especially if a specific movement preference can be used to relieve pressure throughout the day. More severe cases where nerve compression is too great or there is no reliable mechanical patter to take advantage of may need more invasive care like injections or surgery.

Cervical radiculopathy involves nerve injury to the point of functional loss to the upper extremity the nerve supplies. This means loss of sensation, reflexes, and muscle strength.

Cervical radiculitis involves irritation and nerve symptoms, but no functional loss.

Like with lumbar radiculopathy, conservative treatment involving exercise and hands on therapies can be a very helpful part of finding relief and speeding up recovery time. The speed of response to treatment usually depends on the severity of the nerve irritation and whether or not a mechanical pattern can be found and taken advantage of to relief symptoms and modify triggering postures or movements.

In carpal tunnel syndrome, the median nerve gets compressed by structures in the carpal tunnel at the front of the wrist. This usually leads to numbness, tingling, burning, and weakness to the muscles in the thumb and 2nd finger.

It is a common issue to have with wrist work that is repetitive or sustains specific postures for a long time.

Like other nerve entrapments, conservative treatment can be very effective and has been shown to have similar results so surgical release at a 1 year follow up. Treatment involves soft tissue therapy to the muscles that run through the carpal tunnel, joint mobilizations and carpal tunnel “opening” techniques, nerve exercises like nerve flossing or gliding, and in some cases wrist strengthening.

In pronator teres syndrome, the median nerve is entrapped in the pronator teres muscle located in the forearm, leading to sharp and burning pain, as well as numbness and tingling into the outside forearm, thumb, and 2nd finger on the palm of the hand.

This condition can present similarly to carpal tunnel, so it is often misdiagnosed as carpal tunnel. It is not uncommon to that if surgical release at the carpal tunnel does not improve symptoms that a pronator teres syndrome is the culprit.

Chiropractors frequently treat pronator teres syndrome with good success, since they are able to use soft tissue therapies and exercises to release pressure on the muscle that compresses the nerve.

Thoracic outlet syndrome is a broad category that includes various nerve-entrapments that can happen within he shoulder girdle. Chiropractors are able to treat neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome involving compression of the nerves as they travel from the neck through the shoulder girdle.

Treatment involves identifying the source of nerve compression, then performing hands-on therapies such as soft tissue therapies to decompress the nerve, followed by exercise therapies to stretch tight areas or strengthen the shoulder girdle to reduce pressure on the region going forward.

The three most common entrapment sites are the side of the neck in the scalene muscles, in the front of the shoulder at the pectoralis minor muscle, and from the first rib.

The suprascapular nerve supplies function to part of our rotator cuff. It runs through a canal on its course to supply the muscles, and can get pinched along the way.

Symptoms include weakness of the shoulder muscles, especially with raising your arm to the side and rotation. Symptoms are usually felt at the top of the shoulder blade and into the shoulder.

It is common for a suprascapular nerve entrapment to sometimes be misdiagnosed as a rotator cuff syndrome or strain.

Treatment involves soft tissue release of the nerve to decompress it, and strengthening of the shoulder girdle muscles to better support the nerve and reduce compression going forward.

The axillary nerve supplies one of our bigger shoulder muscles, the deltoid, as well as one of our rotator cuff muscles, teres minor.

The nerve can be compressed by tightness of muscles in the back of our shoulder, causing weakness to the muscles and pain or loss of sensation to touch in the back of the shoulder.

Treatment involves soft tissue therapy to the muscles in the back of the shoulder, superficial nerve techniques to desensitize irritation, and strengthening to reduce pressure on the region going forward.

This is a less common type of shoulder issue, and can be misdiagnosed as a rotator cuff issue in some cases. A thorough assessment from a Chiropractor that works with shoulder issues and nerve entrapments should be able to detect if this is an issue for you.