CHIROCARELA.COM: Blog

If you’ve ever had pain in your leg, you may have tried adjusting your posture in a way that also put strain on your lower back. But the connections between our legs and the lumbar region go deeper than that. ChiroCareLA.com in Glendale offers a variety of complementary therapies for reducing pain in a holistic, safe manner, so to help our patients understand why we use them, we wanted to take some time to discuss some of the ways in which the back and legs are connected.   The nerves that lead to our legs emerge from the spinal cord in the lower back. They exit the lumbar vertebrae through small holes called foramina and weave through the muscles and bones of the pelvis. Compression in these nerves could cause a shooting pain, tingling, or numbness down the leg, which are the symptoms of sciatica, but the pressure causing the pinch could have several origins. Swelling from a dislocated facet joint or herniated disc, or a back muscle stretching over a spinal spur, could compress nerves...

Good posture depends on a solid base. If there’s a problem in the foot, a person may throw off their whole musculoskeletal alignment trying to compensate for it. At ChiroCareLA.com, our chiropractic practitioners offer a variety of soft tissue treatments for plantar fasciitis, which is swelling in the connective tissue at the bottom of the foot. But sometimes, foot pain has a simpler explanation, which is why we want to talk about avoiding foot cramps.   Foot cramps occur when the muscles in the feet tighten suddenly, usually while a person is lying down. They often occur when the muscle is fatigued from overuse or getting inadequate nutrition. While staying hydrated and getting plenty of potassium are important for preventing muscle cramps, if the foot has inadequate blood supply, necessary nutrients may not be reaching it. A patient may be able to correct this by wearing shoes that aren’t as tight and that don’t force their foot forward.   In the moment a cramp occurs, a person may b...