Numbness / Pinch in Back of Thigh — Chiropractor or Physical Therapy?

Hi there,

For the past 10 years, I would get this periodic pinch every few months in the back of my thigh. I always thought it was the chair digging into my leg.

Now I've learned it's some form of Sciatica. I've been seeing 2 Chiropractors for the last 2 months. One seemed to make it worse due to being too aggressive, the other seemed to make it better by being less aggressive and doing other moves like resetting the bone.

So yes it has gotten worse but the first chiro didn't help and I was still doing things that weren't helping like stretching my hamstrings.

So now I'm at a point where the new chiro does does help it for a few days but it never holds and will act up again.

I am wondering if there is something else I should be doing at home like certain safe stretches or exercises.

And does this definitely sound like a disc issue or could it be my Piriformis Muscle and if I should see a physical therapist instead? Im not even sure if its sciatica because sciatica always is described as shooting pain down the leg which I never had.

Sitting for a few minutes acts it up. Lying down is ok. It's never painful. Just numbness or a light pinch. Sometimes it moves from my back thigh to my hip.

I can't take an MRI because of my tinnitus. So the doctors are kinda in the dark.

Is there another non-radiation method for seeing the discs?

I hope there is someone here that has similar symptoms and can share what helped them.

I really don't want to do surgery. Walking helps the most. The more I walk, the better I feel.

 

Hi,

I have suffered with sciatica. Excruciating. I liken it to a knife sliding into the back of my thigh, which would grab me out of nowhere, rendering me unable to walk or sleep.

I have chronic back problems related to my occupation. I assumed it would take several adjustments to get on top of the symptoms.

I went to an osteopath. He found my gluteals were very tight. He did a very painful massage of my glutes and a pelvic adjustment. Sciatica gone!

I've had little twinges over the years. I get the same massage repeated and an occasional adjustment, and it disappears.

 

Thats really interesting. I never heard of one before but I didn't have another problem last month where my feet would get numb after a few minutes of walking and was using a cane and a knee rover to get around. it was awful. I was seeing chiropractors twice a week, went to two pediatrist, and two physical therapist about it and nothing worked until a new chiropractor messaged my lower back and realized I need a facia release (deep pain full message). After one session I could walk without issues. Ive been having so many adjustments but my thigh issue continues to worsen so I am looking for any new approach as it could be something as simple as it was with my feet going numb. I'll look for an osteopath. Thanks Deb.

 

Good luck with it.

What really helps is the deep tissue massage of the gluteals to release the pressure on the sciatica nerve

 

Hi @another sean I don't know what therapy may be best, but the nerve would be the lateral cutaneous.
Tests besides a MRI would be ultrasound and/or a nerve conduction test.
Lifting heavy objects should be avoided.

 

Hi @Greg Sacramento . I thought about PMing you but I wasn't sure if this was anything you were familiar with. Do you know what kind of ultrasound that I should look for? Are there any specialized ones that can look at the spinal discs to see if any slipped or are bulging?

 

Hi @another sean It would be just a regular doper ultrasound. Has your posture changed, because your condition would point more towards irritation of L2 - L5 spinal discs?

From memory? only 1/1500 get true lateral femoral cutaneous nerve entrapment, but it almost always happens between the age of 30 -40.

Spinal discs problems are often caused from injury. The LFC nerve entrapment usually relates to the spine and not direct injury to the LFC nerve. For spinal disc problems a MRI is used, but physical therapy will help back disc 95% of the time. Does you back hurt or is it sore?

 

@Greg Sacramento I dont know if my posture has changed. I dont think so. My lower back on the opposite side only gets a little sore when I go for my 45 minute walk. other than than that, its never sore and never feeling any pain. I chalk it up to sitting way to much in a Herman Miller Aeron chair. its a good chair, one of the best, had it for 13 years, but siting is sitting. So I'm really hoping to find the right treatment soon because now I cant sit and its affecting my job and I have to lay in bed now to work which is not good either and basic chiropractic adjustments are solving it. they only help temporarily. I had another issue at the same time where my feet were going numb and solved that by figuring out I needed a deep message to release the facia in the muscle of my lower back. took a while to figure that one out so I feel there must be something similar that im not doing thats preventing this sciatica issue from getting resolved. If knew what disc it was or if its in my hip it would help chiropractors treat me. just a lot of guess work at the moment.

 

In that case then it's probably the piriformis muscle. Osteopathic physician, but there's no imaging tests to note if the sciatic nerve is being irritated at the piriformis muscle.

https://www.spine-health.com/conditions/sciatica/piriformis-muscle-stretch-and-physical-therapy