Sciatica & Pinched Nerve Treatment in Frederick & Hagerstown, MD | Vital Alignment Chiropractic
Pain shooting down your leg, or tingling into your arm or hand? It usually starts at the spine, not where you feel it. We treat the source.
What it is
Sciatica and pinched nerves happen when a spinal nerve is squeezed or irritated where it leaves the spine (the medical term is radiculopathy). Depending on the level involved, you feel it as sciatica down the back of the leg, or as burning and tingling into the shoulder, arm, and hand. The pain travels along the nerve's path — but the source sits at the spine.
Common drivers include disc bulges pressing on the nerve root, narrowing of the space the nerve travels through, and joint dysfunction with the surrounding muscles clamping down to protect it. Because the symptoms travel, people often end up treating the leg or the arm, which is a large part of why it keeps coming back.
Assessment uses orthopedic and neurological testing, plus imaging where it's warranted, to identify which level is actually involved. Care then combines adjustments to reduce the mechanical irritation, soft-tissue and decompression work, and specific rehab. If the findings point to something outside the scope of chiropractic care, Dr. Wroblewski will say so and refer you on.