Question
I'm a 32 yr old female who has been having what my chiropractor says is  sciatica. The symptoms I started with 4 days ago were shooting pain  down my right buttock and leg occasionally when I stepped on that foot.  (This was a day after an adjustment that sent me home feeling a little  bit more uncomfortable than when I went in).  My chiropractor adjusted  me again, I felt a little better until I got home-the pain returned,  but it felt different. Now the pain down my leg was gone, the pain in  my buttock was gradually disappearing but now my right calf was getting  symptoms of fullness, heaviness, thickness, (maybe numbness, too. hard  for me to say)-almost feeling like the calf was bulging so much that it  was about to burst. Despite another adjustment and ultrasound therapy  and electro therapy, I am still in tremendous pain and very concerned.  My calf started turning purple this morning. My chiro wants me to get  an MRI to rule out a bulging disk. My spine feels fine, the area where  my sciatic nerve comes out of the spine and traveling thru the buttock  area doesn't hurt, even when I'm massaging it. Is this sciatica, a case  of a poor adjustment or something unrelated? I've never in my life had  pain like this in my calf. What do I do? Thanks.
Mary

Answer
Dear Mary Saines,

Thank you for your question.  Yours is a question similar to those I have heard from others who are investigating chiropractic.  Unfortunately, though, your question is based on some misconceptions.  In order to answer it properly, I'll first need to give you some background on the chiropractic profession.

There are two branches or schools of thought in chiropractic.  Briefly, they are differentiated by whether they deal with the limited therapeutic approach for aches and pains (commonly termed "mixed" chiropractic because it represents a mixture of a chiropractor with a non-chiropractic matter) or a non-therapeutic approach to optimum body performance (termed "straight" chiropractic because there is no mixing of chiropractic with anything else).  My expertise is in non-therapeutic straight chiropractic.

Therapeutic "mixed" chiropractic is the older approach based on a split from the founding principles of chiropractic about a century ago.

Non-therapeutic "straight" chiropractic is the more modern of the two.  It deals with a particular, common situation called a vertebral subluxation.  This is not at all the same as the findings of sciatica mentioned in your question, but they may exist together.  The spine is made of many bone segments which house and protect the spinal cord and the smaller spinal nerve branches that come off the spinal cord and exit between the bones.  These nerve pathways carry information or messages between the brain and the cells of the body.  These messages are essential for the life of the cells.  Without brain messages, the cells immediately begin the process of dying; i.e., they can no longer function the way they should to maintain life.

Because the bones are moveable, they can misalign in such a way as to interfere with the messages and, ultimately, the ability of the person to function at their best or express their optimum potential.  People with vertebral subluxations are not able to get all they can out of life.

Vertebral subluxations can be caused by a wide variety of factors, what we'll generally call stresses.  These stresses can be physical (such as accidental trauma, sleeping posture and mattress condition, the birth process, sneezing, falling down, etc.), mental / emotional (in its many forms, probably the most familiar use of the word stress), or chemical (such as pollution, drugs, etc.), which are, unfortunately, regular parts of daily living for all age groups.  In short, a vertebral subluxation can occur for a multitude of reasons.

Tragically, vertebral subluxations are rarely obvious to the individual they affect.  They usually have no symptoms.  In order to know if someone has a vertebral subluxation, it is necessary to have that person's spine checked by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor using a method of "analysis."  When a vertebral subluxation is detected this way, it is obviously important to correct it as soon as possible using a procedure known as 揳djustment.?br>
Since vertebral subluxations are caused by so many different things, people choose to go to a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor on a regular basis to enjoy the most time free of the life-robbing effects of vertebral subluxation. There's a saying that straight chiropractic is not about your back, it's not about your pain, it's about your life.  Each person has a unique potential in life.  With vertebral subluxation, it's impossible to realize that potential.

Now, that you have more information about the body and vertebral subluxation, how do you make use of it?  Well, first understand that this is not an explanation of why you have the sciatica problem you mention or whether it is related to vertebral subluxation or the result of a procedure at your chiropractor's office.  Are there reasons for what you're experiencing?  Even though they may be beyond our ability to identify, yes, there are; but it is not relevant to the matter of whether you will benefit from being free of vertebral subluxations.  Vertebral subluxation is, in and of itself, detrimental to your life.  It is not valid or reliable to try to connect it to any organ or tissue conditions, such as a sciatica.  A key question to ask for your purposes, then, would be, Is someone with sciatica better off with vertebral subluxation / nerve interference or free of subluxation / with the nerve channels open?  It is easy to see that having all the available nerve messages getting through is better than only some of them getting through, regardless of the person's situation otherwise.  It's not that you should see a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor FOR your sciatica ?you should visit one in an effort to be free of vertebral subluxations, even WITH that complaint.  Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about diagnosing and/or treating this or any other medical condition.  It is entirely separate in its goal.  

As I mentioned earlier, not all chiropractors adhere to this and it is important that you be able to distinguish which ones do if you're going to seek this type of service.  It seems likely that the chiropractor you've visited is offering therapeutic mixed chiropractic as the focus was on treating your sciatica condition.  You need to understand very clearly that the practice objectives of therapeutic mixed chiropractic and non-therapeutic straight chiropractic are quite different, as described above.  What information I give you must not be interpreted from the mixed viewpoint.  

Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about the treatment of sciatica at all ?or the sequence of pain, discoloration and numbness, etc., you describe.  The theories that are proposed to demonstrate the validity of spinal manipulation (as distinguished from true chiropractic adjustment, as explained below) for ailment treatment certainly are topics of great debate and are clearly different from what would be proper non-therapeutic straight chiropractic procedures or principles.  In your question, visits to your current chiropractor are a form of treatment.  This is inconsistent with non-therapeutic straight chiropractic practices.  

It is impossible for me to answer the question of exactly what you've experienced.  First, we've never even met!  I can tell you that it is the responsibility of a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor to make a determination for adjustment procedures based on your individual needs.  However, if bones were moved regardless of the presence of vertebral subluxations or for the therapeutic goal of treatment of sciatica, then that is not an adjustment.  In such a case, the service was not proper non-therapeutic straight chiropractic.  In a non-therapeutic straight chiropractic office, it would make perfect sense that the chiropractor would recommend that you be checked regularly.  It would only make sense, though, that you be adjusted when a vertebral subluxation was found.  One may not need to receive an adjustment on each occasion of being checked.  

Certainly, it would be wise to have your spine checked for vertebral subluxations by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor, even if you still elect to have therapeutic attention for sciatica and wish to continue with a therapeutic mixing chiropractor or anyone else to do so.  Remember, the two objectives are not the same.  I cannot tell you whether this chiropractor is right for you, but hopefully you now have enough information at hand to make that decision with greater confidence.  

If you are interested in finding out how to locate a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor in your area, please contact me at this site again or at [email protected].  You may also visit www.gschiro.com, a site that represents non-therapeutic straight chiropractic organizations on a state level.

Mary, I wish you the best in sorting out the sometimes confusing world of chiropractic.  It has been my pleasure to provide you with some information.

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.