This article is one of a series covering sciatica — causes, symptoms, and the treatments we use at Back and Body Medical in Midtown Manhattan. For the complete overview, see the full guide:
→ Sciatica Treatment in New York City — The Complete Guide
Our sciatica treatment options in Midtown New York are many. We can utilize a variety of therapies including cold laser therapy, acupuncture, physical therapy and of course chiropractic care. With chiropractic care we still have many ways to help within that discipline alone. Let’s take a look at a couple of evidence based techniques that we often apply to patients to help them out of pain and back to normal.
Mulligan Spinal Mobilization
With this approach we are looking at the spine to investigate possible causes of sciatic pain. While the sciatic nerve occurs lower down, it is not beyond the realms that the reason the sciatic nerve could be infringed is due to some issue in the back. So for this, we assess the condition of the spine. It most cases we do see that people’s backs are not in proper alignment anyway, and so using what’s known as the Mulligan Spinal Mobilization, we look to correct any imbalances in the spine, correct joints and help to free up any nerves that may be trapped.
Neural Mobilization & Flossing
With these techniques we are looking to help stretch the sciatic nerve and to reduce adhesions or scar tissue build up around it. By reducing adhesions, we look to decompress and thus release pressure on the nerve which helps to remove any numbing or pain caused by it.
With flossing, we ask the patient to lay on their back and extend their neck. We will lift one of the patient’s legs up and straight and move it gently around the hip until such time the patient indicates pain. We then ask the patient to flex their neck and we will move the leg to help stretch the nerve. We might do this a dozen times or so to help break those adhesions up.
Of course as mentioned above, we have many more techniques that we can use to help a patient get out of pain and restore proper function. This is one of the advantages of a multi-disciplined practice in that we can tailor make treatments specifically to patients needs. Moreover, we have several experts in the various fields of treatments with considerable knowledge and experience that we can converse with to come up with specific plans if your condition is more complex.
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Dr Shan Sivendra MD is the founder and medical director of Back and Body Medical in Midtown Manhattan. A board-certified medical doctor, certified acupuncturist, and Director of House Physicians at St. Barnabas Medical Center, Dr Sivendra has been practicing in New York since 1995.
He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Saint Barnabas Medical Center (affiliated with Mount Sinai School of Medicine) and received the Resident Research Award for three consecutive years.
Dr Sivendra has a background spanning internal medicine, pain management, and conservative spine rehabilitation, and was licensed in both the US and the UK.
At Back and Body Medical, he leads a multidisciplinary team of chiropractors, physical therapists, and acupuncturists dedicated to helping patients recover from pain without surgery or unnecessary medication.