What Causes Leg Pain?

As New Yorkers, we are always on the move. Time is money; you’ve got to move fast in this town to succeed. That’s one reason that chronic or severe leg pain is a big problem. More than anything, it’s the pain that’s the problem of course, but the consequences to everyday life are quite noticeable too. So what the heck causes leg pain? How is it capable of so acutely affecting our lives? To the second question, there is probably no satisfactory answer aside from the obvious one (being in constant pain is miserable), but the first is much more quantifiable.

Leg pain is a very general term and doesn’t tell us a lot about the underlying causes, but as far as patients we often see at Living Well Medical here in NYC are concerned, they generally belong to two categories: neurological and musculoskeletal.

Neurological of course means that it involves the nervous system. The legs and lower body is innervated by the sciatic nerve roots that exit the spine in lumbosacral region (lower back and pelvic area). Sometimes, other structures like muscles, fascia or support structures like spinal discs can impinge upon these important nerves. The result can be pain (in the legs, lower back, buttocks, etc.), numbness, tingling, muscle weakness and worse in extreme cases. The most common symptoms are generally associated with sciatica, a group of symptoms related to a pinched sciatic nerve. So essentially, a pinched nerve from something like a bulging or herniated disc might be at the heart of the pain. Spinal decompression, chiropractic adjustment with the Cox flexion technique and even traditional pain management are commonly part of a Living Well Medical complete pain relief programs for leg pain of this type.

Musculoskeletal pain is another common culprit in leg pain, particularly sports-related injuries. If you have ever pulled a hamstring or strained a calf, you know what it feels like. Shin splints, Achilles tendonitis, runner’s knee - there is a world of injuries that come with physical activity. Your legs probably hurt because you have overexerted yourself in some way with these types of injuries. Whether related to repeated stresses on a muscle group or heavy weight bearing activity, your body has a threshold past which you shouldn’t force it. We regularly treat patients like these with non-invasive treatments like Active Release Technique and massage therapy, but the particulars of the case will always determine the course of treatment; there isn’t really a cookie-cutter way to relieve pain. At least, not if you want lasting relief.

So those are the basics of leg pain. It should be noted that this in no way covers everything. It’s mainly meant to show some of our more common leg pain causes. If you have leg pain, we’re here. Call Living Well Medical in SoHo New York and make an appointment - 212-645-8151.

- Dr. Shoshany, NYC Chiropractor

Low Back Pain& Radiating Leg Pain- Back pain specialist helps to differentiate-Back pain treatment NYC

Low Back pain & Radiating Leg pain
NYC Back pain specialist-Dr Steven Shoshany

It is necessary to differtiate between pain in the lower back and pain, which radiates down the leg. It is common for the layperson to combine them into one category but to a physcian or surgeon,they represent different pathologies.
Lower back pain is not due to the pressure on a nerve root, as lower extremity pain is. Most low back pain is muscular or mechanical in nature, caused by overexertion, overuse, strain or sprain of the ligaments and tendons of the low back.
It may also be attributed to degeneration of the disck space and facet joints, which hold the spine together. It may also be caused by arthritis or stenosis or referred symptoms from organ involvement (bladder,gallblaffer, kidney, prostate One must also rule out organic causes as any form of cancer.

Lower extremity (leg) pain is often seen to radiate, termed "radicular pain". This refers to pain which shoots down the leg, from the low back or buttock. It usually results from pressure on a nerve, which produces a "pinching" of the nerve, which appears to radiate down the leg in the distrubution of the nerve pattern. Visit leg pain nyc for a excellent chart on nerve distribution.
When the "pinching" of the nerve is mild, one may experience numbness or tingling. As it progresses and becomes more severe, pain may develop. Further progression may present actual damage to the nerve and weakness may also result.
Each nerve in the lumbar spine has a specfic pathway. the nerves also carry threee distinct characteristic properties. They carry all threee of these properties to specific parts of the leg and foot.

1 One characteristic is known as sensory distribution property. What this means is that a nerve will supply the sensory (sensation) property to a certain part of the leg. for example the S1 nerve root, which is the first sacral root, supplies sensation to the lateral aspect of the foot (little toe).

2 One characteristic is known as the motor function property. What this means is that each nerve also supplies a characterisitc muscle.The S1 root supplies the calf muscles (gastrocnemius), which allows each of us to stand on our toes.

3 One characterisitic is known as the reflex pattern propert. Several of the nerves in the lumbar spine have a reflex associated with them. The S1 root has the Achilles reflex, which is elicted by tapping on the tendon of the heel.

Leg pain brought on by walking:

Neurogenic claudication refers to pain in the lower extremities brought upon by wallking. This is often caused by pressure upon the spinal nerves within the spinal canal, usually the result of the disc bulging into the nerves when standing.

Vascular or intermittent claudication is a type of pain, which must be distinguished from the lefg. and lower extremity pain from above. Vascular claudication is due to insufficient blood supply to the legs (arterial insufficiency), and is also brought upon by walking. the difference between the two is that merely standing (without walking) can cause neurogenic claudication but vascular claudication can only be brought on by walking.

Spinal decompression is truly the most effective procedure for severe and chronic cases of bulging, herniated discs, degeneration, arthritis, stenosis and pressure on nerves.

To learn more about our Back pain and herniated disc treatments visit www.drshoshany.com
Back pain NYC, Sciatica treatment NYC, Physical therapy NYC

End Back pain naturally NYC

I have been practicing Chiropractic care in NYC for 14 years now and the past 7 years I have been utulizing Non -surgical Spinal decompression with the DRX 9000 spinal decompression table.
www.drshoshany.com

I remind my patients that spinal decompression is not a panacea, but in most cases when all other methods have failed patients can expect great things from spinal decompression. A patient that recently completed a spinal decompression protocol with us in our NYC office was kind enough to email me a testimonial in english and spanish. I posted it below.


Spinal Decompression testimonial

My name is Sylvia Rivera and I am 59 years old. This is my story. It has been 5 years since I began suffering from backaches. I have been hospitalized, taken many pain killers, patches and different kinds of injections such as epidurals, joint facets, cortisone and many other relievers. But these just proved to be temporary pain relievers. At times I could not walk,tie my shoes,pick anything up or carry anything. I thought my life was over, as I have always been extremely active and had to stop dancing which has always been a passion of mine. However, since I went to Living Well Medical and met Dr. Shoshany my life has changed for the better. I can do so many things I thought I would never be able to do again. Now I can dance, walk and enjoy my life . I am so happy that I met Dr. Shoshany and was recommended the Spinal Decompression treatment. Dr. Shoshany made my life healthier and I am much happier. If you want your life back, I strongly recommend seeing Dr. Shoshany

In Spanish:
Mi nombre es Sylvia Rivera Y tengo 59 anos y esta es mi historia. Hacen aproximadamente cinco anos que he estado sufriendo de dolores de espalda. He estado internanda, he estado tomando medicamentos fuertes y injeciones en la espina dorsal con un poco de sedante o sea anestesia, me han recetado parchos para aliviar los dolores, Y he estado en tratamientos de terapia fisica por un ano. Me sentia casi invalida no tenia vida social, no me podia levanter de la cama todo era con mucho esfuerzo y con dolores constante. Desde que conoci al Dr. Shoshany en la clinica Living Well Medical y me hicieron el tratamiento de decromprencion mis dolores han disminuido en una forma fantastica. Ahora puedo amarrarme los zapatos, puedo bailar, caminar mejor y disfrutar de lo que me habia resignado,! disfrutar la vida!. El tratamiento que el Dr. Shoshany me ha recomendado ha sido lo mejor que me ha pasado en muchos anos. Si quieres tener tu vida activa otra vez Y sentirte mas fuerte deberias ir a ver al Dr. Shoshany YO LO RECOMIENDO.

As you can read this her quality of life has greatly improved, I see this type of recovery daily in our office.
If you or a loved one suffers with Back pain, Sciatica, pain from a pinched nerve or herniated disc consider Spinal decompression treatment prior to a surgical intervention.
If you have a MRI report I can review it at no charge and determine if it makes sense to come in for a No charge consultation. Fax the MRI report to
(212)777-1653 please inculde a cover sheet with your name and contact information, I will do my best to return calls within one day.
to learn more about Spinal decompression visit www.truespinaldecompression.com