TCM Treatment for sciatica

The causes of sciatica

Traditional Chinese medicine can quickly treat the symptoms of pain associated with the pinching of the sciatic nerve as it leaves the spinal cord in the lower back.

There are a few reasons that one could get sciatica pain.

From the biomedical perspective, the cause is generally considered structural in nature, the symptoms having to do with the sciatic nerve, itself.

If the bones of the spine are damaged, or just lined up poorly, they can pinch or irritate the sciatic nerve as it leaves the spine. Often times, the irritation comes about because of a portion of the disc that should remain between the spines sticks out a little bit from between the spines and pinches the nerve as it exits the area. This creates the pain in the lower back as well as the pain we feel traveling down the back of the leg and into the foot. Acupuncture can make quick work of the pain, but you may need to see a chiropractor or osteopath if you have serious structural problems in your back that require more mechanical attention. On the other hand, the problem could be something as simple as a bad chair that you're sitting in.

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, we look at the pain as one of a number of problems.

In American culture, we commonly talk about catching a cold. In Chinese medicine, we can catch a cold as well as many other environmental factors such as catching a damp or wind. Not only that, but these factors can settle into the acupuncture meridians causing pain that may feel hot, or cold, they may move around like wind, or become kind of thick and turbid like dampness. In the case of sciatica, we say that one of a few different external factors has settled into one the meridians that traverse the leg. Usually, that is the urinary bladder meridian.

Other factors that can lead to sciatica, from the traditional Chinese perspective include a deficiency of the Kidney and Liver organs, or the stagnation of the blood circulation through the acupuncture meridian. I'll get to those later in this article.

The pain associated with sciatica follows almost exactly, the path of the urinary bladder meridian in Chinese medicine, from the lower back all the way down to the foot. When there is pain along that line, it suggests to the acupuncturist that the Qi energy is stagnated there and needs to be helped along in its circulation. What is causing the stagnation of the Qi energy can be one of many factors such as wind, damp, cold, or heat, as I mentioned prior. The fact that it occurs in the urinary bladder's meridian doesn't actually suggest that there is anything wrong with the patient's bladder. Its the same thing as understanding that a pinched nerve doesn't mean that you have a problem with your brain, even though the two are connected.

Syndrome Differentiation

Sciatica due to an invasion of wind, cold or dampness.

Pain is aggravated by overcast or rainy weather. The quality of the sciatica pain could include a heaviness, numbness and/or cold sensation along the pain pathway.

Sciatica due to deficiency of the Liver and Kidney

Sciatica pain along with listlessness and weakness in the knees and lower back. This is usually a long-term condition.

Obstruction of the channels by the stagnation of blood due to local trauma.

Sciatica pain that follows a fall, or accident where the leg or lower back has been injured.

Treatments

Acupuncture:

Fine needles, some so thin as to appear more like wires than needles, would be inserted along the pathway of the pain to move the Qi energy locally and dissipate the external pathogen as well as activate the movement of the Qi energy to remove the pain. Sometimes other points in the body would be used to treat the damp or cold or wind that may have spread out into the rest of the body in addition to the urinary bladder meridian.

Electric stimulation ("electro-stim") can be used on the needles that pass through the leg to provide an even greater amount of stimulation. Electro-stim is a more recent invention applied to acupuncture. While the treatment principle is not at all "traditional Chinese medicine", it is a commonly used tool within the acupuncture clinic. The reasoning is that with minute pulses of electricity, the local nerves are over stimulated, not with pain, but with a painless electrical shock. This overstimulation makes the nerves turn down their own sensitivity, and hence, all the other pain that travels through those nerves is also diminished. This is the basis behind acupuncture anesthesia. And it is applicable to sciatica.

Ear Acupuncture:

Ear Acupuncture can be used for additional assistance in treating the pain associated with sciatica. Once the needles are removed, seeds can be taped into the ears so as to supply on-going stimulation to these points. These seeds, or even magnets can be worn for a few days at a time. Of course, care should be given to the condition of the ear's skin so as to avoid any infection caused by dirt or moisture collecting beneath the tape used to affix the ear seeds. There are a number of products that your acupuncturist will have access to that make use of flesh color tape, not unlike the flesh color Band-Aid bandages. These pieces of tape needn't look funny in your ears.

In the past, subcutaneous needles have been used instead of ear seeds. Subcutaneous needles are like really tiny thumbtacks. They are also effective, but because the skin is broken, and often times, the needles are not changed everyday, the risk of infection increases. For this reason, I don't personally suggest this treatment. However if you're in a position to change the little subcutaneous needle everyday and clean the ear, then they can be an effective adjunct to acupuncture for your sciatica pain.

Qi Gong (Chi Kung):

These exercises direct the Qi in the body toward the area of the body where the Qi energy is either deficient or stagnant. Personally, I think that Qi Gong exercises and acupuncture have something in common. In Qi Gong training, it is said that the Shen leads the Qi. That means that if you're doing an exercise in which you are focusing your mind (Shen) on your lower back, then the Qi goes there, and healing takes place. Acupuncture performs the same function. The funny thing about having a needle stuck into your back is that you think about it. You're acutely aware of it. It forces the mind to become conscious of that area, and so the Qi is lead to that area. Qi Gong exercises are used in between acupuncture treatments.

Qi Gong, is about as close to yoga as the Chinese get. Like yoga, that are hundreds of kinds. Some Qi Gongs move, some stand still, some sit, some stand. Some require superhuman patience and strength, others only require a little mental focus.

External Qi Gong:

Sometimes, your practitioner will apply Qi to your body from his or hers by placing his or her hands onto your body. Often times, their hands will be very warm, signifying that they've successfully directed their own Qi energy into their hands for "expression" into you.

As with any therapy that requires touching, it is absolutely essential that you feel comfortable with the treatment. If you don't, your muscles will tighten up and the therapy will produce negative effects. You don't want that. If you don't know how you feel about being touched with either external Qi Gong or even massage, your body will tell you. Muscles tightening up beneath the pressure of a therapist is called a guarding response. Your body is guarding itself from further injury. If your body senses the opportunity for further injury due to the activities of your practitioner you need to honor that body knowledge. Your body's really smart, and regardless of how much you like the practitioner, or believe in his or her medicine, your body has the last word, and if it doesn't believe in what's happening, then believe me, nothing will happen.

If you're uncomfortable with this type of therapy, please tell your practitioner.

On the other hand, if you are comfortable with it, you'll find that with the right practitioner, this can be among the most significant and moving of all therapies. This technique of external Qi Gong can certainly begin to look much like the more Christian "laying on of hands" and can have some truly divine manifestations in your life.