Question
Hi,
My son is is 15 years old and is pretty active in sports and plays a lot of bball ,while working out with his team he lifted weights in a wrong way and ever since then he has go this pain which is roughly about 8 months ago .At first I did not pay attention to it .But recently he is complaining very frequently about his pain .I took him to the chiropractor and he took xrays and diagnosed him saying his L4 L5 nerves are pinched and has prescribed 40 adjustments and 25 physical therapies over a period of 3 months and has assured he will be absolutely normal.My question to you is has the doctor diagnosed well and will my son be absolutely normal like before(pain free).Also do you suggest anything else .

Appreciate your time and honest expertise on this .

Answer
Hi Bosme,

Thank you for your inquiry about your son. I will start by saying that since I have not examined your son myself or seen his x-rays, I can't say  that the chiropractor's assessment is incorrect. I will say that, in my opinion, 40 visits is a bit excessive  for a 15 year old. Typical causes of sciatica in a 15 year old will be either bony misalignment in the spine or muscular spasm in back or buttocks (piriformis syndrome). In serious cases, there may be a herniated/bulging disc involved which would require an MRI to verify. If it is simply a misalignment or muscle thing, a good round of 10-15 treatments with chiropractic and physical therapy (muscle work) should take care of it. Afterwards, some stretching instructions and proper lifting technique will help him avoid re-aggravation. If you could give me some more detail about his pain (location, what increases or decreases it, what lift did he do, etc.), maybe I could give you some better at hone direction too.