Contact Us

Sciatica Care In Tigard

Sciatica Treatment in Tigard, OR

When back or leg pain keeps coming back, it may be time to look beyond where it hurts

Sciatica can affect more than your lower back. Pain, tingling, numbness, burning, or weakness may travel through the buttock and into the leg or foot, making it difficult to sit, walk, work, exercise, or move comfortably.

At BeWell Chiropractic in Tigard, Dr. Crokin takes a functional, neurology-informed approach to understanding what may be contributing to your symptoms before recommending care.

Schedule Appointment

Does This Sound Like What You're Experiencing?

Sciatica can feel different from one person to another.

You may notice pain beginning in the lower back or buttock and traveling into the thigh, calf, or foot. For some people, the sensation is sharp or shooting. For others, it feels like burning, tingling, numbness, aching, or weakness.

Symptoms may change with sitting, standing, bending, walking, lifting, exercise, or other daily activities.

Sometimes the most frustrating part isn't the pain itself.

It’s that the symptoms improve for a while and then return.

Or that you have been told your imaging doesn’t fully explain what you are feeling.

These different experiences can share a similar Sciatica-type pattern, but they do not necessarily have the same underlying contributor.

Sciatica Describes the Symptoms, Not Necessarily the Cause

Sciatica is commonly used to describe pain or other nerve-related symptoms that travel from the lower back or buttock into the leg. But knowing that your symptoms fit a Sciatica pattern does not automatically explain why they are happening. A disc may be involved in some cases. In others, different spinal, muscular, nerve-related, or movement factors may be contributing. That distinction matters because effective evaluation starts by understanding your individual presentation rather than assuming every person with Sciatica has the same problem.

Four Areas We Consider

What May Be Contributing to Sciatica Symptoms?

When Dr. Crokin evaluates Sciatica, he thinks about the relationship among four important areas:

Joints

Movement in the lower spine and surrounding joints can influence how the area functions and responds to everyday loads.

Discs

Disc-related changes can sometimes irritate or place pressure on nearby nerve structures and contribute to symptoms traveling into the leg.

 

Muscles

Tightness, irritation, compensation, and altered movement around the low back, pelvis, and hip may influence how the area is functioning.

 

Nerves

Because Sciatica involves nerve-related symptoms, it is important to consider where the symptoms travel, what sensations are present, and how the nervous system is responding.

These factors do not operate independently.

The goal is not to pick one explanation before examining you. It is to determine which findings appear relevant to your particular symptoms.

What if my MRI doesn't explain the pain?

Imaging can provide useful information, but it is only one part of understanding a low-back or Sciatica problem.

Imaging findings do not always match symptoms in a simple one-to-one way. What appears on an MRI needs to be considered alongside your history, symptoms, examination, and function.

That is one reason BeWell looks at how you are functioning, not just at an image.

The Evaluation

How Dr. Crokin Evaluates Sciatica

If several different factors can contribute to Sciatica-type symptoms, the next question is simple: Which ones matter in your case?

Step 1

Your evaluation begins with your story

Dr. Crokin wants to understand where your symptoms began, where they travel, what makes them better or worse, what activities have become difficult, and whether there was an injury or other event associated with their onset.

Step 2

The examination

From there, the examination may assess relevant areas such as spinal movement, orthopedic function, strength, sensation, movement patterns, and neurological function when appropriate.

Step 3

A clearer picture

The purpose is not to perform more testing for the sake of testing. It is to build a clearer picture of what may be contributing so your care recommendations have a reason behind them.
Schedule an Evaluation

Care Based on What We Find

There is no single BeWell treatment package for everyone with Sciatica.

Your care recommendations are based on your evaluation, your symptoms, your functional needs, and your goals. Depending on those findings, care may include chiropractic adjustments, movement-based care, soft-tissue work, and other supportive approaches available at BeWell. The goal is to address the factors that appear relevant to your presentation and support better movement and function. As your symptoms and function change, your care can change with them.

What If My Tests Were Normal?

Some Symptoms Are Still Unexplained

Not every person with leg pain needs the same treatment. And not every person with Sciatica-type symptoms should automatically receive chiropractic care. Part of Dr. Crokin's role is determining whether your presentation appears appropriate for the care BeWell provides. If your history or examination suggests that another provider, additional testing, or a different level of care would be more appropriate, he will recommend that direction.

When Symptoms Need Urgent Medical Evaluation

Some symptoms should be assessed urgently rather than waiting for a routine chiropractic visit.

Seek immediate medical evaluation if severe low-back pain traveling into the leg occurs with new changes in bladder or bowel function, new numbness around the groin or pelvic area, or rapidly developing neurological symptoms.

Common Questions About Numbness & Tingling

Sciatica describes pain or other nerve-related symptoms associated with the sciatic nerve or related nerve pathways. Symptoms often begin around the lower back or buttock and may travel into the leg or foot.

Symptoms vary. Some people experience sharp or shooting pain. Others notice burning, tingling, numbness, aching, or weakness in the buttock, thigh, lower leg, or foot.

No single explanation applies to every person. Disc-related or nerve-compression problems can contribute to Sciatica, but an evaluation may also consider other spinal, muscular, nerve-related, and movement factors that could be relevant to the symptoms.

Some people notice that sitting aggravates their symptoms. The reason can differ depending on what is contributing to the problem, which is why the pattern of what worsens or relieves your symptoms is useful information during an evaluation.

Recurring symptoms do not necessarily have one explanation.

If symptoms repeatedly return, it can be useful to look at the underlying functional, mechanical, and nerve-related factors rather than focusing only on temporary symptom changes.

Symptoms and imaging findings do not always line up perfectly.

Imaging can be important when clinically appropriate, but it is interpreted alongside your symptoms, history, examination, and function rather than in isolation.

Consider an evaluation when symptoms are persistent, recurring, worsening, or interfering with your ability to sit, stand, walk, sleep, work, or stay active.

Radiating pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness are also good reasons to have the symptoms properly assessed.

If you develop new bladder or bowel problems, numbness around the groin or pelvic region, or rapidly worsening neurological symptoms, seek urgent medical evaluation.

Understand What May Be Contributing to Your Sciatica

You don't need to know whether the problem is coming from a joint, disc, muscle, nerve, or combination of factors before you schedule.

That's what the evaluation is for.

At BeWell Chiropractic in Tigard, Dr. Crokin will listen to your story, evaluate how you are functioning, and help determine what next steps may make sense for you.
Schedule AppointmentCall 503-248-0102