Question
I am a top runner from south africa. I have always said that my left leg does "funny things" when I run and I feel like I get no toe off. I have now been suffering from a hamstring that goes into spasm everytime I run for the past 3 months. My sciatica also is giving me problems and it feels like my buttocks muscle is so tight and that I am sitting on bone. I went to a chiropractor in desperation 2 days ago who said I have a rotated pelvis. He says it may take a while as my body will keep wanting to go back to its incorrect alignment, as that is what it has been used to for so long. I am so frustrated at the moment. Do you think that after a few treatments my condition may be sorted out. Please I dont want to stop competing, there is still so much I want to achieve.
I would really appreciate your help. Thank you

Answer
Disclaimer: please do not take any of my advice without at least consulting with your doctor(s) first. If necessary, print this email in its entirety for your doctor(s) to read. In addition, please do not attempt to use this website or my advice as a substitute for your healthcare needs, as a substitute for the advice of your doctor, or as a substitute for any legal advice. There is no way a thorough health evaluation or assessment of any medical condition can be properly made via email. Please only use the contents discussed as a guide or tool to address your health matters with your doctor(s). If any of the information I provide conflicts in anyway with the information your doctor(s) provide, it is always best to default to the information provided by your consulting doctor(s) or to seek additional opinions from qualified, licensed healthcare providers as needed.

Hello K.,

One of the most common causes for pain to radiate down the leg is from the discs in the lumbar spine.  Sometimes the discs will bulge a bit, (and not necessarily fully herniate) and this can cause the sciatic pain.  This is a possibility if you experience symptoms after you run.  For disc problems, a traction protocol is ideal along with McKenzie extension exercises, which can be seen here:
http://www.mckenziemdt.org/images/BronzeLady.gif
However, if your sciatic pain is coming from joint arthritis (facet syndrome), these exercises may actually increase your symptoms.  So it抯 always best to be evaluated by a knowledgeable doctor.

Disc herniations and bulges (excluding degenerative discs) are a bit more common in people that are in their 20s-40s.  After 50, radiation into the leg more commonly comes from the facet joints, or 揳rthritis.? Several years of improper biomechanics, wear and tear, and trauma to joints cause the bones to deposit calcium.  In the back of the lumbar spine, if the joints 搄am?too hard for too many years, the calcium starts to deposit in the spaces where the nerves are.  If bone starts growing where there should be space for the nerve, then the bone puts pressure on the nerve and pain is felt in the buttock, hamstring, and/or leg.  For these types of conditions, flexion is much better for the lumbar spine (oppositely true for disc problems).  There are a variety of ways to be treated for this.  

One of the most common muscular causes for pain radiating to the legs is piriformis syndrome.  The piriformis muscle is a muscle in the buttock that is sometimes pierced by the sciatic nerve.  If the muscle is too tight, it can actually 揷hoke?the sciatic nerve, causing pain to radiate into the legs.

The above conditions are some of the most common conditions for pain that radiates into the leg.  Of course, there is no way for me to know which condition you have from an email alone, or even if your pain is something else not discussed here, but I would recommend getting evaluated by a knowledgeable doctor and addressing these conditions with your chiropractor for a proper rehabilitation protocol.

In answer to your question about the adjustments, it抯 difficult to say how soon you will feel better.  For some patients, they get better immediately after the adjustment.  For other patients, it can sometimes take a series of adjustments.  It is possible that you will need to follow up with extra treatments with your chiropractor, but overall, chiropractic has a very good success rate for alleviating sciatic pain.

I hope this helps answer your question a bit.  Best of luck, and I抦 sure you抣l start feeling better very shortly.

Dr. JR Strecker, DC