Sciatica is an umbrella term for leg symptoms, pain, numbness, or tingling, caused by irritation or compression of a nerve root as it exits the spine. Most cases resolve with conservative care, and in our Boulder and Lafayette clinics, that usually means a combination of focused exercise, dry needling, and manual therapy. Spinal manipulation is...
Spinal manipulation, dating at least to Hippocrates’ writings, is one of the oldest known medical treatments. Currently, these treatments are commonly performed by Physical Therapists, chiropractors, and physicians to treat a variety of musculoskeletal pains. Evidence supporting spinal manipulation is primarily found in three areas: headache, neck pain, and low back pain. This data supports...
Thoracic manipulation by Physical Therapists has previously been shown to improve pain and function in patients with elbow, shoulder, and neck pain. Authors continue to research the mechanisms behind its’ effectiveness including a beneficial cascade of events in the peripheral and central nervous system, as well as, a possible biomechanical change in the spinal joints....
Cervical Radiculopathy Injuries and Symptoms Cervical radiculopathy occurs when a nerve from the neck becomes irritated or compressed by space occu- pying lesion including fluid, soft or bony tissues as it exits the spine. Patients often complain of sharp, burning pain down the arm, numbness, tingling, or weakness. This condition is most common in the...
Arm pain referred from the cervical spine (cervical radiculopathy) often is the result of nerve root compression by either bone or soft tissue in the bony canals of the neck. These canals protect the nerve roots as they exit from the spinal cord, but can also compress these neural structures leading to pain, numbness, pins and...
Neck Pain Background Information Neck pain affects 10-15% of the population at any one time, with a lifetime incidence of 22-70% (1). Only 6% of patients with neck pain report resolution of symptoms at one year (2). A recent systematic review demonstrated the prognosis from idiopathic neck pain is poor (3) and 50-75% of patients with neck...
By: Maggie Gebhardt, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT The hip joint can be a source of pain for many people and the reason why can often be confusing. The most common thing we think of when it comes to hip pain is arthritis. However, there are many different causes of hip pain not related to arthritis...
By: John Crawley, PT, DPT, OCS Low back pain known as lumbar radiculopathy or more commonly as sciatica can be a debilitating condition. The condition is marked by severe pain that can present from the low back to the foot. The pain can be intermittent to unrelenting. Characteristics of this type of pain are the...
The use of low back injections is often utilized for patients with low back pain and nerve pain (radicular pain) and/or leg numbness, pins and needles, or nerve root weakness (radiculopathy). In an older adult these symptoms may be due to a narrowing of the canals in which the low back nerve roots exit (lumbar...
Did you know the more movies Nicolas Cage makes; the more people drown in pools? Or the worse the rating of M. Night Shyamalan on Rotten Tomatoes; the less total newspaper sales? There is a significant difference between correlation and causation in the world and is especially noted in medicine. As we all deal with...
