SCIATICA may sound pretty but it's a right pain in reality and can affect people of all ages. It is the name given to the sense of pain that sufferers feel down their legs. The Sciatica nerve is the main nerve that travels along the leg from the lower back.

The symptoms may be leg pain or pins and needles or even numbness. It may affect the strength in your legs, making it difficult to stand or even walk.

What causes Sciatica?

There are many causes; if the spine is misaligned in the lower back, this may put pressure on the Sciatica nerve. The Vertebal Subluxation Complex (VSC) is a distortion, jamming or locking of your spine that irritates, pulls or compresses ("pinches") your nerves; unbalances your posture; weakens your disc, stretches your ligaments, tendons and muscles and can upset your general health. As terrible as all this sounds, VSCs are often initially painless. You may have one right now and not know it. If your disc in the lower back are "slipped" this can affect your hip or legs as well as your feet.

Pelvic organs and your hips The nerves originating from the spinal column in the lower back and hips travel to the bladder, kidneys, genital and pelvic organs, uterus and lower intestines. It is very important to ensure that the nerves to these organs are free of any irritation, compression or stress. In fact, for more than a century chiropractors have noticed the intimate relationship between spinal health and hip, sacroiliac and leg problems.

When your hips are uneven your legs become uneven; one appears longer than the other. More pressure is placed on the long leg when you walk: the knees, hips, ankle and feet on that side of your body may show pain and pressure. This is most noticeable when you lie down and is often used as a chiropractic test.

Children's hip problems Even children may have hip problems commonly referred to as growing pains. Beacause childhood is a very physical time full of falls, accidents, cuts, scrapes and occasional serious injuries, children should have their spines checked, including their hips, their leg lengths and their SI or sacroiliac joints by a doctor of chiropractic to ensure they are free of subluxation. Chiropractors and body workers have often observed that a stressful birth could damage a child's spine and could cause problems in adult life if not corrected.

Customer's testimonial Pardeep Joshi came to the clinic and he says, "I was suffering with excruciating low back pain. I was unable to walk or bend. I could not sleep. My spine was very stiff and I could not sit or even drive. This affected every aspect of my life.

"After being under chiropractic care, I can do everything now such as drive, sleep and sit. I even exercise and have lots of energy. To my surprise my hearing has improved. I was told that is how chiropractic started about 110 years ago. A deaf man's hearing was restored. I actually feel ten years younger."

There is a solution...

The aim at the Uxbridge Wellness Centre is to assess how well your spine is moving to locate jammed up joints in the spine to find out where there is pressure on the nerves. For a consultation telephone 01895 273 555.

Take it as a complement

For any natural or complementary therapy to be safe and effective for the public, it is essential that the practitioner is well qualified and experienced and registered with a recogniSed regulatory body. Most osteopaths, chiropracters, homeopaths, herbalists, acupuncturists, Ayurvedic practitioners and aromatherapists undergo an intensive training of three to five years, during which they learn the basic anatomy and physiology and clinical study on patients so that they can make some form of diagnosis in their related fields of expertise.

No other discipline can replace the intensive, rigorous medical training that doctors have to undergo for six years to study in minute detail the functioning of our body and how to diagnose an illness and treat it.

If you wish to find out more about complementary therapies, integration of holistic medicine and about regulatory bodies for complementary practitioners and their associations, you can call the British Holistic Medical Association, 59 Lansdowne Place, Hove, East Sussex BN1 1FL.

01273 725951