How can my leg problem be a back problem?
Often in our office people present with pain and other symptoms in the legs but never recall injuring their legs. Examples of these complaints include; local or shooting pain in the hips, knees, feet or ankles, numbness and tingling sensations in the legs and feet, weakness or the feeling that the legs are giving out.
Without a specific injury to the area of complaint, a thorough history and exam should be performed to get to the bottom of why you are experiencing the issues in these extremities.
The first step in the process is find out where this problem is coming from.
Is it a bone, joint, muscle, ligament, or nerve issue because 9 times out of 10 one of these is the culprit? During a chiropractic physical examination at our office, we first rule out the most serious conditions such as broken bones, torn ligaments, etc., that can create problems in the specific area where you feel pain.
Once these conditions are ruled out we still have to figure out where is the pain coming from?
The next area that is checked is the lower back. The most common response is “How could it be my lower back when my knee hurts?” Actually there are two different, very common reasons why the back is causing lower extremity problems.
One reason is an imbalanced pelvis. The body relies on having a balanced structure to achieve maximum function. An unbalanced structure leads to a dysfunctional body. All of the weight of the body travels through the legs and if one leg is carrying the brunt of the weight over the other, that imbalance or abnormal weight distribution will cause pain in either the hip, knee, ankle or foot.
Nerve irritation is the other very common reason to have pain in the legs.
The nerves that supply the legs originate in the lower back. At multiple areas in the low back abnormal pressure can be placed on the nerves from misaligned spinal segments. This compression causes nerve interference creating symptoms such as pain, numbness and tingling, and weakness. These symptoms represent dysfunction.
If spinal segments are misaligned, chiropractic adjustment are the most cost effective treatment to restore the life flow of that nerve. Nerve compression could also come from spasm in the piriformis muscle in the buttocks due to a misaligned pelvis creating similar symptoms as nerve interference from misaligned vertebrae.
Treatment for low back pain and/or leg pain will depend on finding out exactly what is causing it. Schedule a consultation and evaluation at your local chiropractic office and get to the bottom of what’s wrong and get the treatment that will target the problem and fix the problem.